


To Live Without a Lifeline

by AndiinaRaethTash



Series: Young Enough to Try (To Build a Better Life) [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: Rebels, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Angst, But Playing Fast and Loose With It Anyway, CT-21-0408 | Echo Lives, Canon-Typical Violence, Echo is a Good Bro, Episode: s03e15 Overlords, Episode: s03e18 The Citadel, Episode: s03e20 Citadel Rescue, Eventual Fix-It, Fives Is a Good Bro, Gen, Half-truths, Kix is a Good Bro, Let's be honest, POV Outsider, Post-Episode: s03e17 Ghosts of Mortis, Skywalker Family Drama, Sort Of, Space Battles, That's Not How The Force Works, The Canon Universe Sucks, They're Given Unreliable Facts, Time Travel, Trying Not to Ignore the Show's Timeline, Unreliable Narrator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-24
Updated: 2019-11-23
Packaged: 2020-09-25 18:56:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 43,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20376484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndiinaRaethTash/pseuds/AndiinaRaethTash
Summary: "As far as Separatist prisons went, this wasn’t the worst one that Ahsoka had been in. Sure, the cells were a bit small, and she’d yet to meet her cellmate, who’d been dragged off for “questioning” a couple hours before she’d been thrown in here, but there was a common area that all prisoners were allowed to eat, exercise, and socialize in. She might not be allowed to, especially if they found out that she was a Jedi, but it was the thought that counted."When a brief stint in a Separatist prison leads to a discovery that will change the course of the world, Ahsoka, Rex, and Kix are left reeling.





	1. Start Again From the Beginning

**Author's Note:**

> This is an idea I've been working on off and on most of the summer, and now that school's about to start, I figured I might as well start posting it. I'll try to update once a week, probably on Saturdays, but I might miss an update or two, especially as I settle into a routine.  
This is in an alternate universe right off the bat. Not only will things start happening differently as the story progresses, but I've actually tweaked the universe slightly because I thought it'd make for an interesting story. If someone seems OOC, I'm sorry, I'm going to try to do each character justice, but with the tweaks I've made to the universe, some people will be slightly different.  
For those who are still waiting for an update on my other story, sorry, this has stolen my time and imagination, I'll try to update that when the muse lets me get interested in that story again.  
This will be part of a series. This part is finished, I have the other two parts outlined and I've started the next part.  
Alright, with that ridiculously long author's note out of the way...

As far as Separatist prisons went, this wasn’t the worst one that Ahsoka had been in. Sure, the cells were a bit small, and she’d yet to meet her cellmate, who’d been dragged off for “questioning” a couple hours before she’d been thrown in here, but there was a common area that all prisoners were allowed to eat, exercise, and socialize in. She might not be allowed to, especially if they found out that she was a Jedi, but it was the thought that counted.

Sighing, she rested her head back against the cold metal wall, despite how sore her montrals were becoming from the constant pressure she was putting on them. She’d claimed the bottom of the two metal cots, unsure of whether or not her new “friend” was the type to want the top bunk. Uncomfortable as the cots were, she needed to be rested for when her rescue came.

Shifting, she ignored the urge to pace. She knew that Master Obi-wan and Anakin were most likely on their way, but that didn’t make the wait easier. Especially considering that if Dooku and the rest of the Separatist leaders found out who she was, she’d be moved to a much more secure location. That would make her rescue much harder.

The door to her cell suddenly slid open, revealing two B1 battle droids, who parted to let a couple of B2s drag their prisoner into the cell. They dropped the human in a heap in front of the door, then turned and left without a word.

Ahsoka eased herself off the cot as the door resealed itself. Crouching next to the prone figure, she rolled him onto his back, then hissed at the colorful array of welts and bruises that littered the young man’s face. Blood covered the left side of his face. He was obviously- and probably mercifully- unconscious. Reaching out through the Force, she tried to assess his condition, then stiffened as she hit a wall.

Even unconscious, he was throwing up wall after durasteel wall to deter anyone who managed to get close. The shields could be trained to non-Force sensitives, but his presence seemed… off, slightly, she just couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was that was bothering her. And, even more pressing, who had taught him how to shield? It couldn’t have been a Jedi. They didn’t just teach people how to shield, and he couldn’t be a Jedi, regardless of the fact that he was obviously not Force-sensitive. She hadn’t heard of any Jedi missing in this sector. She’d only been caught when an undercover reconnaissance mission had gone south.

So who was he?

A groan dragged her out of her thoughts and she cursed. Well, he definitely wouldn’t be getting the top bunk. He was probably an inch or so taller than she was, and while he was slender, he was also lithe in a way that meant most of his body mass was muscle. So she definitely couldn’t lift him.

Gently, she looped her arms underneath his, and carefully began dragging him toward the bunks, wincing when he inhaled sharply as his arm hit the ground.  _ That might be broken, _ she thought. Setting him down next to the bottom bunk, she glanced around to make double certain there were no cameras, before levitating him slightly with the Force so she could ease him onto the bunk. As she shifted her grip so that one arm was under his knees and the other was across his back, she bit back a gasp as she felt something warm and sticky start leaking through the back of his orange jumpsuit, which, while it wasn’t actually a prison uniform, reminded her eerily of one. Pulling her hand away from his back, she saw that it was indeed blood. With a muttered curse that would have made Rex raise an eyebrow, she gently rested him on his side and probed the ripped material so she could see the myriad of cuts underneath. 

There were more than a dozen of them running down the human’s back, long, thin, and shallow, but oozing blood steadily. They had to have been inflicted with a vibroknife. The skin around some of them was red and swollen, and his back was unnaturally warm, obviously because of a fever. Which meant they were infected. Great. The chances that she could get him medical aid anytime soon were minimal, at least until rescue got here.

Biting her lip, Ahsoka carefully gave him a once-over, cataloguing any and all injuries. Besides his back, the obvious bruising on his face, and the broken arm, he had a cut on his hairline, which was bleeding profusely, and he probably had a concussion as well. Other than that, he seemed to be mostly okay.  


But it made her wonder. Why in the world had the Separatists been so harsh on him? If they knew about his presence being off or about his shielding and thought he was a Force sensitive, they would have him in a more secure cell, and they most definitely wouldn’t have given him a cellmate. It didn’t seem like it was standard procedure to interrogate new prisoners, or else everyone here would sport more injuries or scars, and she probably would have been dragged off already. So why had he been?

It took her nearly an hour to tend to all his injuries. She’d had to rip up the already mostly shredded vest he’d been wearing, as well as the long-sleeved shirt she’d been wearing over her usual sleeveless tunic, in order to bandage his back. She’d also had to thoroughly soak a rag in the small sink in the attached ‘fresher so she could wash his face. Doing so had given her the opportunity to study his features, though.

He was young, maybe only a year or so older than she was. His close-cropped hair was a dark, nearly black, shade of blue. Twin scars highlighted his left cheekbone, and although he was pale from blood loss, he probably had a normally tan complexion. There was something else, though, something about his features that was familiar…

As she draped the rag across his forehead, he shifted slightly with a moan. His eyes cracked open just a hair, enough that she could see their brilliant blue color, and he frowned slightly. “‘Bine?” He mumbled, before his eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp again. 

Well, that wasn’t good. He needed to wake up, especially if he had a concussion. Ahsoka gently tapped his cheek. “Hey, you need to wake up. C’mon, wake up!”

No response. She huffed and sat back on her heels next to the bunk, staring at her cellmate for a minute before standing, stretching with a groan, and clambering up to the top bunk. There wasn’t anything else she could do, anyway, except rest.

The explosion a few hours later startled her. The wailing klaxons that followed it seconds later didn’t. As she hopped down from the bunk, a mechanical voice blared through the intercom system, telling prisoners to remain in their cells, and to listen to the correction officers. She ignored it in favor of the tugging on her training bond that had grown stronger in the heartbeats between the initial explosion and the announcement.  _ Anakin _ .

As she reached back, reassuring him that she was okay, he sent a wave of reassurance that she took to mean, “we’re here, we’re coming for you.” As she glanced over her shoulder at her cellmate, who hadn’t moved but didn’t look any worse off than he had been, she sent a pulse of urgency, accompanied by a wave of fear for someone else, so that he wouldn’t panic and think she was hurt.

An instant later, the lights cut out, leaving the room in pitch black shadows before the emergency lighting cast a red glare across the small room. Quickly, Ahsoka ran to the door, prying off the panel next to it, which, while it had no buttons, had to be her ticket out of the cell. Peering into the exposed section of the wall, she carefully yanked a couple wires out and crossed them, yelping when they sparked and zapped her. Dropping them with a curse, she made to cradle her burnt fingers, only to jump when a hand landed on her shoulder. 

Looking up, she met the unfocused gaze of her cellmate, who was holding his broken left arm to his chest and swaying slightly on his feet. “Let me,” he said with a hoarse voice. 

Numbly, she moved aside, watching as he braced himself against the wall and gently tugged a different wire out of the wall. He crossed that one with one of the two she’d pulled free, and the door sprang open with a hiss. Ahsoka opened her mouth to ask how he’d done that-- she couldn’t hot-wire  _ anything _ except her comm, her starfighter, and the  _ Twilight _ , no matter how hard Anakin tried to teach her-- but his knees chose that moment to give up on him. He fell with a yelp. With another curse, she grabbed his unbroken arm and hauled it over her shoulder, supporting him as she made her way out of the cell.

Outside the cell there was mass panic. Most of the prisoners had been in the mess hall when the explosion went out, and with all but emergency power cut, the force fields that normally kept them contained weren’t working. While that would make getting out easier, it also made it easier for the other prisoners to make nuisances of themselves by running around screaming. The only good thing they were doing was keeping the droids busy.

Glancing over her shoulder, Ahsoka adjusted her grip on her cellmate before taking off down the hallway. If she was remembering her trip through the prison correctly then there should be-- she turned the corner to find a bank of elevators. With a grin, she jabbed the call button several times, keeping an eye out for any droids.

Luck seemed to be with her for the moment. The hallway stayed clear even when the door slid open with an out-of-place  _ ding. _ With a grunt she hauled her cellmate into the elevator, jabbing the button for the main floor with her elbow as she carefully set her cellmate down with his back against the wall. He groaned, blinking rapidly as he was obviously trying to figure out what was going on. His unfocused gaze landed on her as the elevator started moving, and his brow wrinkled in obvious confusion.

"Ahsoka?" He whispered, and her eyes widened. No one in this prison knew who she was; they couldn't. But here he was, somehow knowing her name despite the fact she knew she hadn't introduced herself, and she knew they hadn't met before. She would have remembered him.

Before she could ask how the hell he knew her name, his eyes fluttered closed and his head slumped down so that his chin was resting on his chest. He was unconscious again. With a huff, Ahsoka eased his head back, to help him breathe better. He was getting paler, she noticed, most likely from blood loss. She needed to get him to a medic-- and soon.

The elevator door slid open a few seconds later, and she poked her head out quickly, checking to make sure the coast was clear before picking up her cellmate--and Force, she needed to find out what his name was so she could call him something different--and heading out.

She made it a few yards before a patrol of battle droids literally bumped into her as they rounded a corner of a crossroads.

"Hey," one of them exclaimed. "You're not supposed to be out here! Back to your cell, now!"

Ahsoka gritted her teeth, easing her grip on the unconscious boy leaning against her as she prepared for a fight, but before she could move, blasterfire rang out from the hallway the droids had come from. Ahsoka hit the floor instantly, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, only to wince when her new friend gasped softly in pain as he, too, hit the floor. The droids followed seconds later, holes smoking in their chassis from the blasterfire.

Ahsoka looked up quickly, relief flooding through her when she saw the familiar white and blue armor. The clone in the lead holstered his blaster pistols, somehow looking smug even through his helmet.

"Looks like we found you just in time, Commander." He said as he stepped over the droids and offered her a hand up. Behind him, Fives, Echo, Jesse, and Hardcase all lowered their blasters, relaxing slightly now that they had found her.

"Rex," she said, smiling slightly. "Nice save. Can you help me with this guy? He needs medical attention, and he's heavier than he looks."

Rex nodded, gesturing for Fives, who ran up and gave Ahsoka a pair of metal cylinders. With a grin, she attached them to her belt, relieved to have her lightsabers back. As the clone Captain knelt next to the boy, though, a rumbling from one of the other hallways made her hands fall onto the hilts as she narrowed her eyes. When a droideka tumbled through the hall opposite the one they were currently sitting in, she drew her 'sabers, flourishing them as she prepared herself to have to shield her men.

Three blaster shots burned through the droid before it even unfolded, and Ahsoka whirled around, gaping in open shock at the boy, who she could have sworn was unconscious just a minute ago. He was holding one of Rex's blasters, which was still smoking, and lying on the floor, his extended arm shaking as he clutched the blaster just a bit too tightly. Next to him, Rex was frozen in shock, staring at the kid who'd managed to peg a droideka from fifteen meters away while lying on his back and only half-conscious.

As the kid's arm finally dropped and the blaster pistol went skidding out of his hand, Ahsoka sheathed her lightsabers. Grabbing Jesse's arm, she started to pull him over to her cellmate so he could help carry him, only to freeze when she heard the boy speak again.

"Rex...? What're you... I thought you were... with the others..." His voice was faint, and he was obviously on the verge of passing out again. That wasn't what had shocked Ahsoka--or the rest of the troopers, judging by their stiff postures and the fact that they were all staring at the boy. What shocked her was that that was the second time he'd known the name of someone who'd never met him.

Rex shifted uncomfortably, reaching over to pick up the fallen blaster pistol. "We'll... worry about that later, kid. We need to get out of here."

The kid nodded weakly, then cried out as Rex tried to haul him up. The clone froze as the boy went limp again, and Jesse hurried over, quickly assessing the wounds that covered the kid's back and the obvious break in his arm, not to mention the equally obvious concussion.

After a minute or so, Jesse nodded. "We need to get him to medical. Between the bloodloss, fever, and concussion, it's a wonder he was coherent in the first place." With that, he scooped the kid up in his arms bridal style, and Fives gave a low whistle when he saw the bloodstain the kid had left after lying down for a few minutes.

Rex pulled his other blaster pistol out, waving Ahsoka in front of him so he could protect their rear. They hurried through the halls. As they got closer to the exit, the violence and signs of battle increased. Ahsoka could hear shouting--both clones and droids yelling orders--and blasterfire ricocheting through the halls long before they encountered their first living combatants. There had been dozens of disabled droids and a couple of dead troopers, but they saw daylight before they actually saw the rest of the 501st.

The droids noticed them first. Cries of "Stop them!" were cut short by her men's blasters and her 'sabers. As the battle droids turned to fire at them, Ahsoka switched tactics, reverting from the more aggressive Ataru to the forms of Djem So that Anakin had taught her so she could deflect the incoming blasterfire.

A streak of blue light began cutting through the other side of the group of droids, and Ahsoka grinned. A few minutes later the last droid toppled as it was cut in half, and Ahsoka sheathed her 'saber.

"I am never going on an undercover mission again," she told her Master, who grinned wryly in response.

"You'll get no argument from me. I'm not sure how you managed to screw this up this badly, but only you would manage to end up in a Separatist prison because you got into a fight with a Separatist officer in a bar of all places." Anakin gave her a once-over, obviously making sure she was alright, before noticing the unconscious boy in Jesse's arms. "Who's this?"

"My cellmate," Ahsoka answered, pursing her lips. "They were harsh with him, I'm not sure why. He needs medical attention, now."

Anakin nodded, then turned on his heel as he charged back out of the prison towards the landing zone.


	2. We Left Our Date of Birth and Our Histories Behind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can literally not believe the response that this fic has gotten! You guys have blown me away, seriously. I can't thank you enough.  
Apparently, though, I can't get away from really long author's notes, so here goes. Firstly, I'm an idiot, the title for this fic is from 'Earth,' not 'Mars.' Same artist and album, but not the same song. Oops. This chapter's title is from 'Mars.'  
Secondly, timeline-wise, this starts before Mortis but after Ahsoka gets her shoto, while for Ezra it has been approximately eight months since the end of Rebels, which puts it (in this timeline, I'm not sure about the canon timeline) right after the battle of Yavin 4. I'm also moving the timeline around, so I'm gonna pretend the last 2-3 seasons take place in, like, the space of eight months, so it's about eight months till Empire Day. If that doesn't make sense... sorry? I'm not sure how else to explain it.  
Lastly, as I mentioned in the first chapter, THIS IS AN AU EVEN BEFORE THE TIME TRAVEL WAS INTRODUCED. One of the universe alterations I've made will be discussed in this chapter and explained in the next.

It was hours later in the medbay of the  _ Resolute  _ that something interesting happened. Kix had stabilized the boy, bringing his fever down to a manageable level and setting his arm, but when he'd tried to run the kid's fingerprints through the system so they could get an ID on him, he'd gotten no hits. He'd tried dental records and facial scans, too, but none of the databases had turned up a match, so in desperation, Kix had run a DNA test, going through every database available to make sure that the "poor boy" they'd brought aboard wasn't actually a Separatist spy or saboteur.

It was when the results of the DNA test came back that things got interesting. Kix had called Rex and Ahsoka into a private room in the medbay, a supply room that by the looks of things was used more for clandestine meetings and less for actually storing medical supplies.

Kix handed Rex the datapad first. "Here. The results came back, and I don't know what to make of them."

Rex's face paled slightly as he read through the information, and his eyes were wide as he turned to look at Kix. "How likely is it that this is wrong?" He demanded, and Kix shook his head.

"I've run the test three times, with three different DNA samples. Ninety-nine percent match, no possibility that they're brothers. They've got too much DNA in common."

"Who?" Ahsoka demanded as she tried to peer over Rex's shoulder so she could read the datapad. The two clones didn't answer her, just handed her the 'pad and let her read for herself.

After a solid minute of staring at the words, waiting for them to compute, she spluttered, "What the  _ kriff?” _

Kix nodded. "Exactly. It shouldn't be possible, considering that the kid can't be younger than--well, I'd give him sixteen standard at the absolute youngest--"

"So how could Skyguy, who's twenty-two, have a teenage son?" Ahsoka demanded as she stared at the words  _ Ninety-nine percent match: paternity confirmed. Anakin Skywalker---unknown offspring. _ Glancing up at Kix, she asked, "Is there any chance that he's, I dunno, a clone? Or something similar so they could accelerate his aging the way you guys'--"

Kix shook his head as he reclaimed the datapad. "No. There are genetic markers for that, I'd be able to tell. Besides, I, um, also ran his DNA against the most likely candidate for his mother, and..." As he swiped the screen of the datapad, a different report showed up.  _ Ninety-nine percent match: maternity confirmed. Padme Naberrie Amidala---unknown offspring. _

As Ahsoka nearly choked, Rex frowned. "Definitely not possible. They only got married at the beginning of the war, which was, you know, two years ago. Hadn't seen each other for ten years before that, and certainly hadn't met about the time this kid would have been born."

Ahsoka gaped at him. "Okay, one, how do you know that much about Anakin's love life when he won't actually admit to me that it even exists, and two, does the whole GAR know he and Senator Amidala are a thing?"

Kix shrugged, leaning back against one of the shelves. "No, just the 501st. Didn't know he was married, though."

Rex smirked slightly, though his eyes were distracted. "The General's a messy drunk. Wouldn't stop talking about her, which got old, especially since General Kenobi was right there and I'm pretty sure that if he had been sober, General Skywalker would not have wanted him knowing. Still, that doesn't answer the question of how in the world this kid exists."

Ahsoka sighed and shook her head. "I dunno. I guess we'll have to--"

The sound of something crashing rang through the medbay, followed by clones shouting. The three of them shared a glance before charging out of the supply closet to find the few troopers who'd been on duty lying on the floor in various states of consciousness. The few clones who were patients were staring at the door, obviously wanting to chase after whoever had handed their brothers’  _ shebs  _ to them. It was as Ahsoka was glancing around, trying to find some clue as to who the culprit was, that she realized the kid--or Skyguy Junior or whatever-- was not on his bed anymore.

"Kriff," she swore before taking off through the door, Rex hard on her heels as she raced through the Venator-class Star Destroyer. She passed a few more unconscious troopers before a cry from a room to her left--the mess hall, she realized belatedly-- caused her to skid to a halt and change directions.

The door to the mess was open. Inside, several troopers on the floor, with a few other brothers hovering over them to make sure they were alright. The rest of them were clustered around... something. They were blocking her view of whatever it was, but they parted to let her through. Anakin was standing right there, looking down at Skykid, who was slumped in Fives' lap, obviously unconscious.

"What happened?" Rex demanded as they both took in the sight.

Fives shrugged, careful not to jostle the unconscious boy. "I don't know, sir. We were eating when we heard a commotion in the hall. A few seconds later, the kid came running in, and just... started attacking us. Took a good number of us down, too, before General Skywalker showed up and immobilized him. Once he was contained, I stunned him. Didn't exactly know what else to do."

Anakin was staring at the boy, an unreadable expression on his face. Watching him, Ahsoka wondered if some part of him knew that this was his kid. Hopefully not. Once he found out--and he was gonna find out, Ahsoka wasn't stupid enough to believe she could hide something like this from him forever--he was going to freak out. After that, he was going to make sure the kid never left his sight, and Ahsoka tried not to wince at the thought. He was overprotective enough of her. The poor kid would probably never get to do anything on his own.

"You should have seen him, Rex," was all Anakin said, though, and Fives snorted.

"Probably a good thing the Captain wasn't here, sir. This kid would have kicked his little--" he cut himself off with a glance at Ahsoka--and Rex right behind her, who was glowering at the ARC trooper, knowing that he was about to curse. "Er, that is to say, he's got some advanced hand-to-hand training. I couldn't bring him down, and you know I've received some of the best training the GAR has to offer."

Ahsoka was frowning by now, but her frown only deepened when Anakin quietly said, "I meant he was scared. Terrified, really. I could see it in his eyes. He honestly thought we were going to hurt him, or worse." Looking up, he met Rex's eyes, confusion causing his brows to crinkle. "Why would he think we were the bad guys?"

Ahsoka stepped forward slightly. "We don't know where he's from or how he grew up. Kix has been trying, but he hasn't found any record of him in any database. For all we know, he was raised someplace where the Republic is the enemy." She tried not to let the half-truth leave a bitter taste in her mouth, telling herself that he couldn't know yet, not until they had some answers to the how and why of this situation, but as Anakin turned back to the kid, she cursed herself mentally for putting herself in this position.

After a beat, Anakin shook his head as if to clear it. "Get him back to the medbay. Secure him in a private room, and I want a squad of men on the door at all times."

"Maybe I should stay with him, Master." At Anakin's raised eyebrow, Ahsoka added, "I think he recognized that I was a Jedi during the prison escape. Maybe if I'm there, he'll be calm enough for us to explain the situation to him. Besides, that way, even if he does attack again, I stand a better chance of stopping him than just the men."

Anakin pursed his lips but nodded. "Alright, Snips, just be careful. Alright, get him up."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how DNA tests actually work, so just pretend that's how it does. Besides, fictional universe, maybe that is how it works there.  
Next chapter will be up next Saturday. Please let me know what you thought!


	3. Variation of the Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, there's a lot of dialogue in this chapter, and not much action, but I'm kind of trying to set up and explain some of this universe, so I think it's mostly excusable.  
Chapter title is from Neptune by Sleeping At Last.

Kix called both Skyguy and Master Obi-Wan when it looked like the kid was coming to. So when the kid opened his eyes again, he was met with the two Jedi, Ahsoka, Rex, and Kix all seated around his bed, the latter three of whom had decided to keep the kid's parentage to themselves for the time being. Rex still unconsciously reached for his blasters as the kid instantly tried to sit up, looking around wildly. Despite the franticness of his behavior, though, Ahsoka could tell he was assessing threats, noting escape routes, and evaluating options. There was something in the tightness of his eyes and the control with which he whipped his head around that told her he wasn't panicking quite as mindlessly as he would have them believe. Finally he stilled, pulling at the cuffs that held him to the bed, his entire body rigid with tension as he carefully evaluated everyone in the room.

Anakin and Obi-Wan got a once-over first, and judging by the way he kept glancing at them out of the corner of his eye, he probably--and accurately--had decided that they were the most significant threat. Kix was dismissed almost immediately, and Rex, who'd ditched his bucket, was ignored almost as promptly. It was when his eyes landed on her that Ahsoka actually saw him freeze.

"Hey," she said softly. "You probably don't remember this very well, but I helped you escape. We were in the Separatist prison together, remember?"

He stared at her, slowly coming out of fight-or-flight mode, but there was still a tightness around his eyes, a wariness that was slowly turning into confusion as he stared at her so hard she was about to start squirming when he finally blinked and hesitantly nodded.

With a slightly forced smile, she leaned back, trying to exude calm. It worked pretty well for Master Obi-Wan, after all, but she couldn't quite get it to work. "Good," she said before gesturing at Kix. "This is our medic, Kix. He's been taking care of you while you heal. They were pretty rough with you."

The kid glanced at Kix, raising his shoulders. Ahsoka got the feeling that if his hands weren't cuffed to the bed, he would be crossing his arms. When he still didn't say anything, Obi-Wan took the lead.

"We've been trying to find some record of who you are." The kid whipped his head around to stare at Obi-Wan, some emotion that Ahsoka couldn't place in his eyes. Obi-Wan just continued calmly. "We hoped that if we could find your family, we could turn you over to their care. However, despite our best efforts, nothing's popped up. I don't suppose you could help us with that?"

The kid shook his head, looking down at the floor. "My family's gone," he said in a husky voice.

Obi-Wan nodded sadly, and Ahsoka knew what he was thinking. This was another orphan created by this endless war, another innocent whose life had been ruined by the conflict. All he said aloud, though, was, "I don't suppose you could tell us your name?"

Instantly the kid whipped his head up. "What's it to you?" He demanded, glaring at Obi-Wan.

"Easy, kid," Anakin raised his hands placatingly. "We're the good guys here. We just want to help."

Scowling, the kid sat back. "Lando Calrissian," he practically spat, and Obi-Wan shook his head.

"That's not your real name and everyone here knows it. If you're going to lie about your name after putting a fuss up about it, don't answer so quickly. And don't try lying to three Jedi."

At Obi-Wan's last words, the kid's breath caught and his eyes widened. "Jedi?" He breathed, suspicion and awe warring in equal measure in both his expression and his voice.

Anakin nodded, grabbing a nearby cup and levitating it using the Force. "Yup, Jedi. This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi, Padawan Ahsoka Tano, and I'm Knight Anakin Skywalker."

The kid closed his eyes, taking a deep breath and shuddering slightly as he pulled his knees up to his chest. When he pressed his face into his knees, he looked young. Vulnerable. He had probably only recently lost whatever family had been taking care of him, and now had woken up surrounded by strangers, cuffed to a bed, and being interrogated. Ahsoka had to sympathize, but more than anything, she wanted answers. And she wanted them now.

"You know our names," she prompted. "How about you make it even and tell us yours?"

Obi-Wan gave her a look that told her that her attempt at diplomacy was sloppy and he'd be lecturing her on it later, but the kid took another deep breath and pulled his face away from knees. He didn't meet any of their eyes, but he muttered, "Ezra. Ezra Jarrus." And Ahsoka felt a surge of triumph, followed by confusion. He wasn't using his actual last name, even though the name he did give felt  _ right  _ somehow. Granted, using your last name when introducing yourself to the man that may or may not be your father was probably a bad move, but Ahsoka couldn't help but wonder whose last name he was using instead. She exchanged a look with Kix and Rex and could tell they were thinking the same thing.

Obi-Wan and Anakin took it at face value. "Very well, then, Ezra. You're going to be staying here in the medbay under Kix's supervision until we have figured out what the best option for you moving forward is." Obi-Wan said as he rose from the stool that Kix had dragged in.

Anakin got up, too, setting the cup down on the table by the bed. Before leaving, though, he turned and gave Ezra a smile. "Get well soon, kid. Being in the medbay under Kix's supervision is fun only for about the first five minutes."

Kix glared at the retreating General's back, grumbling something under his breath about making it fun for him the next time he got stuck in the medbay as he locked the door. The moment the door was sealed, Rex turned to Ezra with a raised eyebrow.

"You lied," was all he said, but it was enough to make Ezra tense.

"Oh, yeah? What makes you think that?" He demanded defensively.

Kix snorted in mild amusement, pulling out the dreaded datapad, the only copy of the knowledge that Ahsoka, Rex, and Kix were guarding so closely. "This does," he said as he activated it, the projector showing a hologram of the report that had turned Ahsoka's world on its head. As he read it, Ezra paled, glancing back and forth between it and the other people in the room. Kix nodded as if Ezra's reaction had proved something. "So you did know. Well then,  _ Ezra Skywalker _ , care to share how the bloody hell a twenty-two-year-old has a seventeen-year-old son?"

The kid flinched at the name, glaring at Kix. "That's not my name. That has never been my name."

From the corner, Rex snorted. "Tell that to the DNA test, kid."

"I don't use the name I was given at birth," Ezra insisted. "I've never used it, so it's not mine. I'm Ezra Jarrus, not Skywalker--" He gave Rex a more intense once-over, including a glance at the helmet at his feet, before adding "--just like you're Captain Rex, not CT-7567."

Rex flinched, his hand falling on his blaster. "How the hell do you know that number?"

Ezra glared at him. "Same way a twenty-two-year-old has a  _ nineteen _ -year-old kid, not that you're going to believe me."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, carefully probing him with the Force. There was something about him... not his muted presence or too-strong shielding, but there was something off about him, like he hadn't belonged here until something had shoehorned him in. _ Yes, _ the Force whispered to her as she watched him carefully.  _ You know how he exists. You know how he knows your name, and Rex's. _

"That's not possible," she muttered, and the others all turned to stare at her, Kix and Rex with trepidation and Ezra with fear. "There is no kriffing way you're a time traveller."

Rex glared at her slightly, and Ahsoka got the feeling that if she hadn't just dropped that bombshell, he would have slapped her upside the head for the use of the swear, but as the rest of what she'd said processed, he turned to stare instead at Ezra, who wilted slightly under all the attention.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before answering. "Yes. I don't know how, and I sure as hell don't know why, but somehow I ended up in the past, before I was even born. But you cannot tell anyone else this. Any of this. If the wrong people find out what I know or who I am... the whole galaxy could be in danger."

Rex straightened. "You know how the war ends." It was a statement, not a question, but the implications...

Ezra snorted. "I was born the day the war ended. I've lived my whole life with the consequences of the war, and how it ended. And if I had to guess, I'd say the reason I'm here now of all times would be to stop what's going to happen."

Ahsoka's mouth dropped open slightly in shock as his eyes darkened. This wasn't an innocent teenager. This was a soldier, one who'd been in this fight for a long time. No wonder he'd been able to take out most of the troops without difficulty. But if he had been fighting for that long, then...

"The war never really ended, did it?" She asked.

Ezra shook his head. "If it makes you feel any better, the Separatists didn't win, but... neither did the Republic. A third... faction, let's call it that, rose up at the end of the Clone Wars, wiping out what resistance was left. The battle droids were issued a shut-down command, and most of the GAR was... forcibly retired. The Jedi were wiped out."

They all stared at him in shock. That... couldn't be right. There were thousands of Jedi, and millions of clones. How in the name of the Force did all of them just... get wiped out? Ahsoka glanced at Rex and Kix, the words 'forcibly retired' ringing in her ears. She knew what that meant. The  _ vod'e  _ would die before they abandoned their Jedi, and there was no way the all Jedi would have fallen if the clones were still around to watch their backs. So almost all the clones... and all the Jedi... all dead at the time of this kid's birth. He'd grown up in a galaxy without its greatest protectors.

But that didn't make sense.

"If all the Jedi and clones are dead," she asked slowly, "how do you know Rex's and my names? You recognized him on sight, and in the elevator back at the prison you called me Ahsoka. If we all died when you were born, then how did you know us?"

Ezra sighed, looking down at his hands. "Not all the clones were killed. Most of the survivors were forced to retire. Rex didn't. And... not all the Jedi died. A literal handful survived. You were one of them. That's why I knew who you were, both of you. We've met. I worked closely with you--" he nodded at Ahsoka "--for a year or so, then we had to... part ways and I didn't see you again for a couple years. You," he turned to face Rex, "I fought beside frequently. Last time I saw you was about eight months ago from my perspective. I saw Ahsoka a week or so before that."

Kix was watching him carefully, probably figuring out more from what he wasn't saying than what he was. "Did they know?" At Ezra's questioning look, he elaborated. "The older versions of them, did they know who you are? You said you never used your birth father's last name. Did they know they were fighting beside General Skywalker's son?"

Ezra nodded. "Ahsoka was the one to figure it out, actually. Apparently I look sort of like him, and a lot like his mother, though I have 'a fair bit of my mother's side in me,' whatever that means. Anyway, she saw the only holo I have--had--of the couple that raised me and pointed out that I don't really look like either of them. Up till that point, I'd thought they actually were my parents, so when Ahsoka asked if she could run a DNA test, I kind of freaked out. Freaked out more when it came back saying I was Anakin kriffing Skywalker's son. I met Rex a couple weeks later, and we told him."

"How old were you when we met?" Rex demanded. Ahsoka could see it in his eyes: he wanted to know why the kriff his General's son had been raised without knowing who his birth parents were, why Rex and Ahsoka hadn't been there to help raise their General's kid.

Ezra seemed to either ignore or not notice Rex's agitation. "Um, fifteen? Yeah, I was fifteen. So about four years ago, give or take a month or two."

Rex sat back, disbelief in his eyes. "Fifteen..." he muttered, regret lacing his tone.

Ahsoka sat forward. "Did the couple that raised you know who you were?"

Ezra shrugged again. "I don't know. I don't think so, they probably thought I was another baby orphaned by the war. Which I guess was true."

Ahsoka hissed, flinching as realization hit her. "Skyguy didn't make it?"

Rex sighed, rubbing his eyes. "Should have guessed. You know he'd go down fighting."

Eara didn't say anything, just looked down at the sheet he was twisting in his hands, but she took that as confirmation. After a moment of drawn-out, awkward silence, Ahsoka asked, "So why don't you know for sure?" Ezra looked up, confused, and she explained, "you said that you didn't know if they knew. Couldn't you ask them?"

Ezra shook his head. "They were imprisoned when I was seven, executed when I was fifteen. I never got a chance to ask them."

Kix winced. "That's rough. I'm sorry, kid." Ezra nodded, looking back down at his hands. After a moment or two of silence, Kix added, "so what are we going to do now?"

"What do you mean?" Rex asked, straightening.

Kix gestured vaguely around the room. "All four of us know how it turns out, though some of us more acutely than others--" he pointedly looked at Ezra, who sat back, crossing his arms in a way that indicated he was not telling them more "--so if we play our cards right, none of the  _ osik _ he's been describing will happen. The Jedi survive, the Republic wins, and the Commander here gets to grow up with his birth parents."

Ezra flinched. "I'm not a Commander."

Rex raised an eyebrow. "General Skywalker's your father, and you're not a Jedi?"

"Pretty sure I remember one of the two of you telling me my birth mother wasn't Force-sensitive. Besides, did you miss the part where I said only a literal handful of Jedi survived? The Empire was hunting Force-sensitive kids to make sure they couldn't become Jedi, and you really think I could have escaped their attention?"

Ahsoka groaned, kneading her forehead. "Why is every sentence you say a minefield full of crap we don't have time to unpack?"

"Because the future he's from is full of crap," Kix answered wryly. "Still, I have to ask: The Empire?"

Ezra shrugged. "The thing that replaced the Republic. Led by Emperor--well, um, Darth Sidious. Lord of the Sith." At Ahsoka's startled expression, he laughed bitterly. "Yeah, that explains why the future sucks as badly as it does, doesn't it? It's a militaristic dictatorship, run by greedy ambitious scumbags who have no problem groveling at the Emperor's wrinkly feet to get more power.”

“And everyone just, what, went along with it?” Ahsoka demanded. “They wipe out the Jedi, and no one thinks that’s wrong or tries to fight against them?”

“We did,” Ezra replied wryly. “We were fighting in the Rebellion--officially the Alliance to Restore the Republic, but no one except the politicians backing us and the other higher-ups called it that." Giving Ahsoka a wry smirk, he added, "You actually helped found it, by the way."

Rex smirked proudly at her. "Of course she did."

Ahsoka fought off a blush at the implied compliment, opting instead to continue the psuedo-interrogation. "How'd you get involved?"

Ezra shrugged, running a hand through his short hair. "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes at the not-quite-an-answer. "Right," she drawled, before realizing with a start that Ezra's hands had been free for the last several minutes. "How'd you get out of the cuffs?"

As Rex and Kix both startled, staring at him in suspicion, Ezra smiled sheepishly. "I kind of picked up lock-picking at an early age. And these cuffs are easy. All it took was--" he flourished a laser-fine scalpel that he'd probably plucked for Kix's belt as he'd passed him to lock the door. Kix growled and snatched it from him as Ahsoka gaped openly.

"You've got to teach me how you did that. First you hotwire the door, then you pick the lock on the cuffs one-handed." She shook her head in disbelief.

Ezra frowned. "When did I hotwire a door?"

Ahsoka stared at him for a moment before realizing he wasn't messing with her. "Oh, you must have been out of it. It was when we were escaping the prison. I can't hotwire pretty much anything, but you did it in, like, two seconds. We wouldn't have gotten out if you hadn't."

"Wait, you can't hotwire anything?" Ezra asked, then laughed when she shook her head. "Oh, man, that would have been nice to know four years ago. I would have held that over your head for forever."

“All jokes aside,” Kix cut in, “we need to discuss what we’re going to tell the Generals.”

“We’re not telling them anything,” Ezra said firmly. 

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. “You want to keep this a secret? I mean, I understand not wanting Skyguy to know about  _ that, _ but what about the whole  _ all-the-Jedi-are-going-to-die  _ thing? We have to tell them that.”

“No,” Ezra insisted. “The more people that know, the greater the chance is that the Sith will find out. And if he does, the whole galaxy is screwed, worse than it was in my timeline.”

“I don’t buy that,” Rex said, crossing his arms with a scowl. “It’d be better if our commanding officers knew so that they can help us get you where you need to be in order to change things.”

Ezra shut his mouth for a minute, and Ahsoka could practically hear the gears in his head turning. After a second, he shook his head slowly. “No, it’s still not worth it. I’ve got a vague idea of how to change things, but I’ll need to be here, flying under the radar as much as possible. There’s too much at stake for us to risk this over a bit of convenience. I’ll manage.”

“We’ll manage,” Ahsoka corrected. “We’re in this together now, Skykid.”

Ezra grimaced. “Please don’t call me that. I’m not a kid.”

“Skyguy Junior?” She suggested, letting herself grin a little.

He shot her an annoyed look. “I swear if you start calling me that in front of anyone else…” he let the threat dangle.

Her grin got a little bit bigger. “Do I never call you that in the future?”

“No, you usually called me by my name. Probably didn’t want to dig up old memories.”

"Speaking of, you're taking this all remarkably well," Kix commented, but he was eyeing Ezra like he was expecting him to have a breakdown right then and there.

Ezra gave a dry laugh. "Oh, it'll sink in in a day or two and I'll have a complete breakdown. Just give it time." He paused, then laughed again, even more bitterly. "After all, that's what I've got. Loads and loads of time before anyone I know would even know I'm supposed to exist." He sobered with a curse. "And if this works I'll never meet them again anyway. Not the versions I know. Force, I'm never going to see any of them again."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Since I use a fair bit of Mando'a in this--and in real life, actually, it's great for insulting people without them knowing--I figured it'd be best if I include a bit of a translation.  
Vode--brothers-literally, siblings  
Osik--crap, dung


	4. Some Truths Are Sown into Our DNA

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this isn't my favorite chapter, but it needed to happen. The action will start (finally) picking up next chapter.  
Also, two things: Take literally anything Ezra says as a half-truth. He knows from experience that Jedi are good at reading people so they can tell better than most when someone's genuinely lying.   
Second, I'm using the Star Wars calendar for any and all measurements of time. That means there's five days a week, seven weeks a month, ten months a year, with three weeks and three days left over.  
Chapter title from South by Sleeping At Last. Seeing the pattern yet?

Obi-Wan stared at the boy. For all he claimed to be nineteen, and thus legally an adult, there was something about him that made Obi-Wan's mind insisted that he was just a boy. The set of his jaw, the way his wide blue eyes seemed to plead even when his expression was neutral--there was something else about him too, something about the shape of his nose and the curve of his mouth that tugged at him, registered as vaguely familiar. It was strange.

Stranger still were his mental shields. Ahsoka had commented on them when she'd been debriefed following her rescue, but Obi-Wan had been too busy when Ezra had woken up the first time to really examine them. Now, he probed them gently, trying to figure out if he was using natural shielding techniques or if he was reinforcing them with the Force. 

His signature in the Force felt off, as well. Force-sensitives were easy to identify if they weren't shielding incredibly well; they shone like stars--or, for the more powerful Force-sensitives, such as Anakin or Master Yoda, like suns. Force-nulls didn't usually shone quite as brightly. They were like planets; the light was reflected and they had a gravitational field, but they didn't produce light by themselves. Ezra's signature wasn't like a star, sun, or planet. The closest thing Obi-Wan could compare it to was a black hole. The gravity was there, but the light the rest of the universe emitted couldn't seem to affect it. He couldn't be Force-sensitive in the slightest.

Currently, Ezra was glaring at him. "If you're going to interrogate me, get on with it. I know you have questions."

Obi-Wan sat back in his seat, watching the boy who was still seated on his bed in the medbay. He looked better, and Kix said there was a good chance he'd be giving Ezra a clean bill of health within the next day or two, but that raised questions that Obi-Wan needed to answer. Namely, what were they supposed to do with him now?

Sighing, he decided that wasn't the best place to start. Instead, he asked, "How did you end up in the Separatist prison?"

Ezra grimaced slightly. "So, this is an actual interrogation. At least you left the vibroknives in the armory," he joked weakly before clearing his throat and explaining somewhat snarkily, "I was poking around on some planet near the Outer Rim, did something stupid and ended up crash-landing right in front of a Separatist patrol. They didn't like that, and I didn't like that, so we fought, and, well, I've got moves, so they decided I was a threat. Thus the imprisonment and, um, warm welcome."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow, but apparently everything he'd said was true, if a little vague, because the Force didn't contradict him. That instinct that always ran on high alert whenever someone tried to lie to him was conspicuously silent, so Obi-Wan didn't question it. "Well, then, Young Jarrus, perhaps you'd like to tell me where you learned to shield?"

Ezra tensed ever so slightly, but covered it well with a shrug. "My aunt had met and been given a few pointers by a Jedi, so she passed on what she learned to me."

"Was your aunt a Jedi?"

"No, she wasn't. She was Force-sensitive, though."

Obi-Wan frowned. While that had answered his question, it raised a few more. "You said she received some training. Who trained she?"

Ezra just shrugged. "She didn't talk about it much."

Oh, so that was how it was going to be. He was purposely answering truthfully but vaguely, enough that Obi-Wan wouldn't register it as a lie, but not with enough detail to actually answer the question. Pursing his lips, Obi-Wan sat forward, peering intently at Ezra, who, to his credit didn't squirm. With a sigh, he said, "Just because she didn't talk about it much doesn't mean she never talked about it. Did she give you any names?"

Clenching his jaw, Ezra answered, "I don't remember if my aunt ever told me. Why do you care about that, anyway? Aren't you supposed to be figuring out what to do with me once I'm all healed up?"

"We'll get to that later. At the moment, I'm trying to establish that there's no one around to take care of you."

"I already told you my family's gone." Ezra said with a glare. "Whatever Jedi taught her--and didn't even give her a complete 'how-to-Jedi-101' course, I might add--wouldn't take me in anyway, because as you might have noticed, I don’t use the Force. Besides, I'm an adult, and it's not like I haven't lived on my own for years. I can handle myself, I don't need someone to 'take care of me.'"

Obi-Wan just raised an eyebrow. "Your defensiveness on the issue makes me more curious as to what you aren't saying than what you are. So, tell me, why don't you want someone to look after you?"

"Because every time someone gets close to me, they die!" Ezra finally shouted, anger overtaking his annoyance. "My birth parents: dead before I was a day old. My mother and father, the people who raised me: captured when I was a child, executed before I was an adult. And now the rest of my family's gone and I'm alone again and I _ kriffing hate being alone!" _ Ezra's anger morphed into grief as his voice broke and he began to sob.

Obi-Wan sat back, not really sure what to do with a crying teenager. When Anakin had been a teenager, he'd had more tantrums than he'd had full-on breakdowns, and even those had been few and far between. Ahsoka was fairly emotionally stable, or at least had been trained enough that she could act like she was. In short, Obi-Wan, when faced with a teenager actually having emotions, had no idea what to do, and for the first time, he found himself cursing his Jedi training, if only a little, because he had no idea how to relate to the grieving teen.

After a few minutes of uncomfortably waiting for Ezra to stop, he realized that wasn't going to happen on its own. Carefully--and slowly, he didn't want to startle the boy--he eased himself off his seat and onto the bed, gently placing a hand on Ezra's shoulder.

Ezra jumped and pulled away slightly, looking up at him with a tear-stained face, and suddenly Obi-Wan was twelve years in the past, looking down at a ten-year-old Anakin as he asked in a trembling voice, "What's going to happen to me now?" And just like that, Obi-Wan knew what they were going to do with this boy.

Softly, Obi-Wan said, "Once you're recovered, I'm sure Anakin would love to offer you a place on his ship, if you'd like. I overheard some of the men talking, they were hoping you'd be able to teach them some moves. I know Ahsoka would enjoy having someone her age to talk to."

Ezra choked a laugh through the tears. As he wiped his sleeve across his eyes, he sighed. "Yeah, I'd like that, too." His voice was still shaking, but he'd had the desired effect: Ezra was now distracted from his grief, and that was the best Obi-Wan could do.

Huffing, Obi-Wan decided to ignore the irony of the fact that the Negotiator was having difficulty relating to someone and instead focused on the practical side of things, the part he was always good at. "You do realize that if you stay, you'll be in a warzone nearly constantly. Even when the 501st isn't in the middle of a ground campaign, they have a nasty tendency to get caught in skirmishes when simply traveling through hyperspace. I think it's Anakin. He seems to attract trouble wherever he goes."

Ezra snorted. "Yeah, that sounds familiar," he muttered before meeting Obi-Wan's eyes. "And I know it's a warzone, I'm not stupid. But I've been fighting since I was fourteen. Maybe not in this war, but... look, the war never ends. It just changes theaters. It's all I've known for the past four years, and it's what took my family from me. If I don't keep fighting, then that sacrifice means nothing. And I can't... that can't mean nothing."

Obi-Wan nodded, not really sure what else to say. After a minute or so of silence, he stood, patting Ezra on the shoulder as he moved past him. "I'll inform Anakin of the plan, then. He'll have to get you a commission from high command, but that shouldn't be too much of a problem."

"Master Kenobi?" At the sound of Ezra's voice, Obi-Wan turned, raising an eyebrow at the boy's suddenly awkward expression. "Just... thank you. For everything."

Something told him that he didn't just mean the commission, but the boy had been through enough emotional upheaval for one conversation, so he just nodded and let the door close behind him. He needed to find Anakin and let him know about his new crew member, after all.

_______

Anakin raised an eyebrow. "You want me to take an nineteen-year-old into the middle of the war?"

Obi-Wan rolled his eyes. "As if you weren't already planning on offering him a place on your crew."

"I--" Anakin cut himself off before huffing. "Well, yeah, but when you suggest it, it seems that much crazier."

"Oh, please. We both know that you come up with the insane plans around here, and I temper them with reason so that they actually work. Besides, he may only be nineteen, but he's been fighting for more than a few years. You saw how good he is. And let's not forget that you're bringing a sixteen-year-old into battle nearly constantly, so I really don't see why his age is an issue."

As Anakin opened and closed his mouth, trying to come up with a good response, Ahsoka laughed. She was standing to Obi-Wan's right as the three Jedi stood around the holotable on the bridge of the  _ Resolute _ , the rest of the bridge crew making an obvious effort not to listen in on their conversation. Rex was standing to Anakin's right, his expression saying that while he had opinions, he was going to keep them to himself.

"He's got you there, Master," Ahsoka said. "And I really would like having someone my age to talk to. I've got friends at the Temple, but we're at Coruscant so rarely..."

Anakin groaned, dragging his hand over his face. "Don't guilt-trip me, Snips." Meeting Obi-Wan's eyes, he gave in. "Fine, but he'll need to do a field assessment. Firearms, hand-to-hand, piloting. Technical skills and tactics, too. I need to know what he can do before I request a commission."

Obi-Wan nodded. "I'm sure Captain Rex will be more than up to the task, and after the display in the mess hall, I'm sure ARC Trooper Fives will be more than happy to assist."

Anakin looked at Rex, who pressed his lips together but nodded, before he turned back to Obi-Wan. "Alright. He can start once Kix clears him for duty."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea how the whole commission thing works, so I'm just doing what everyone else does: write it how you need it to work and ignore anyone who says otherwise. Although, seriously, if that's not how it works and it's really bugging you, sorry.  
I do really want to thank everyone who has read, commented, or left kudos on this work. I'm going to be honest, I've hit a bit of a writing slump, but every time I get a notification saying someone has left a comment or kudos, it makes me want to press on even more.  
So, seriously, thank you.


	5. Let Every Little Fracture in Me Shatter Out Loud

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All right, this is where things finally start picking up! People are getting to where they're supposed to be for the rest of the story, and thus the action will begin picking up!  
You might notice that the chapter count has gone from 13 to 14. That's because after editing the first couple of chapters for the next part of the series, I decided that the first chapter really belongs at the end of this part of the series.  
Thank you to all of you who have stuck around through the exposition dump that was the first few chapters. As a reader myself, I know that's always the most difficult part to struggle through, so thanks for sticking through it.  
Chapter title from Jupiter by Sleeping At Last.

Rex watched as Ezra scowled at the uniform lying innocuously on the bed. "No," the teenager insisted, crossing his arms.

"Afraid your opinion doesn't really matter, kid. You want to help us fight, you wear the uniform."

Ezra curled his lip at the grey pants and jacket, the black leather gloves and boots sitting next to the folded material. "Pass. I'll wear literally anything else, but not that."

"You're going to be an officer, not a trooper. You have to wear the uniform."

Ezra glared harder. It was almost funny, like he thought protesting hard enough was going to change the regulations. "I agreed to this so that I could keep fighting. Sitting on the bridge discussing the battle while it happens isn't that."

"What makes you think that's all you're going to be doing?" Rex asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ezra barked a laugh, disbelief on his face. "Seriously? I'm not going to be fighting in that thing, there's no armor whatsoever. My  _ civvies  _ have more armor than that. It's not practical."

Rex pursed his lips. The kid had a point, but at the same time, they couldn't just outright flaunt the regs because a kid didn't like the GAR's fashion sense. Still... "I can talk to the higher-ups about it, but until they say otherwise..."

Ezra sighed. "I wear the uniform. Got it." He didn't sound happy about it, but he picked up the jacket, wrinkling his nose in distaste. Rex nodded and stepped out of the room to let him change in peace.

When Ezra came out of the room, Rex couldn't help but stare. Somehow, Ezra had put it on perfectly, every button and crease sitting exactly as it was supposed to. He was fidgeting with the gloves as he waited for Rex's approval, but it took a few seconds for Rex to get words out.

"How'd you...?" Rex trailed off, gesturing at the kid, who seemed to get his meaning.

Shrugging, Ezra looked down at the ground self-consciously. "Not the first time I've worn a uniform like this. Last couple of times were under much more... stressful circumstances."

Rex straightened as he understood his meaning. He'd mentioned that the Empire had replaced the Republic, even going so far as to imply that the Empire had taken control of the GAR. That meant that the Imperial uniforms were probably very similar to the one Rex was practically forcing him to wear. If that was the case, then no wonder Ezra was reluctant to put it on, much less wear it regularly.

"That's why you attacked, isn't it. When you woke up," Rex said quietly, making sure no one else could overhear them. At Ezra’s nod, he frowned slightly. “Why didn’t you recognize either of the Generals?”

Ezra pursed his lips, still not looking up. "I thought they were impersonators, or I was hallucinating or something. Of course, I’d also been shackled to a bed, so I thought I'd been captured and--" He broke off with a shudder before taking a deep breath and straightening. "Alright, Captain, where to?"

"The armory, first. We need to establish that you know your way around weapons." Rex said as he turned on his heel and started toward the door, only to stop when Ezra swore--and swore rather eloquently at that. Raising his eyebrows, Rex gave him a look that normally would have caused a shiny to balk. Ezra just grimaced.

"My belt--I just realized the Separatists probably have it, and it had my blaster and... a few other, personal items on it. Which I'm probably never going to get back now."

"Well, if that's all." Rex muttered as he led the way out of the medbay. "We were able to recover a few things that we're pretty sure belonged to some of the prisoners. Most were returned, but there are a few items lying around in the armory that no one's claimed. They might be yours."

Ezra bounded up to walk beside him, shying away from the groups of troopers both in and out of armor that marched past them in the hall. "I hope so. That blaster was a birthday gift from my sister, she'd kill me if she found out I lost it."

Rex glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "Sister? Older or younger?"

"Older," Ezra replied as he shuffled to avoid the mouse droid that almost ran over his feet, "and I know what you're thinking, but we were both adopted. She's not, you know..."

_ General Skywalker's kid. _ Rex tried not to sigh in relief, because any daughter of his would be unstoppable both in conversation and in battle. The rest of the trip was spent mostly in silence, Ezra continuing to avoid the rest of the troopers as best he could, stiffening slightly when one of them stopped Rex in the hall to deliver a message from Fives and Echo: they'd be there for training, but they were being held up by General Skywalker. The trooper who delivered the message didn't say what they were doing, so Rex just nodded, sighing internally.

The moment they entered the armory, Ezra hurried on the locker that Rex pointed out that had the reclaimed items from the prison. Yanking the door open, he gave a shout of triumph and pulled out a belt with a pouch and an attached thigh holster, which had what looked like a modified DL-44 heavy blaster pistol in it. As Ezra secured the belt around his waist, Rex also noted a few other pieces of equipment on it, including what looked sort of like an enlarged commlink. Across his back, there was now a light-colored cylinder. As far as Rex could tell, it had no real purpose, but the kid sighed in relief as he rested his hand on it, so it must have been important.

Grabbing a couple of blaster rifles, Rex nodded his head in the direction of the door. The kid might be good at hand-to-hand, which was useful in some situations, but not usually against droids, so it was his ability to use firearms that would make the decision as to whether or not he could stay with the 501st. 

And Rex wanted him to stay. He wanted the assurance that they were doing things differently, so the galaxy didn't all go to hell. More than that, though, he wanted to be able to watch over his General's  _ ad. _ For whatever reason, he hadn't been able to safeguard the kid growing up, and while he had apparently been watching his back for the last few years, that didn't make up for the fact that he hadn't been there for the first fifteen years of his life. Add to that the fact that the older version of Rex was no longer around to watch over him, and Rex was determined that the kid was going to stay with them.

_______

Fives and Echo walked into the training room as Ezra finished off the last of the targets with a blaster rifle. He'd proved fairly proficient with his heavy blaster pistol, which, Rex had been surprised to discover, had indeed been modified to help with the usual overheating problem, but he was better at it at a closer range. Anything over twenty meters was more likely to get hit by shrapnel from wherever the bolt ended up hitting than to get hit by the bolt itself.

He was better at a longer distance with an actual rifle, but it clearly wasn’t his favorite weapon. He grimaced as he rechecked the power cell after missing the bullseye by a good few inches, then set the rifle against his shoulder and squeezed off another half a dozen rounds, this time nailing the bullseye every time. 

Fives still gave a low whistle as Ezra stepped away from the range, as if he hadn’t been expecting Ezra to be able to handle a blaster very well, which, after his display in the prison, should have obviously not been the case. "That's some impressive shooting, kid. Who taught you?"

"A few people," Ezra said with a shrug, but he glanced over to meet Rex's eyes for a split second, and Rex found himself revising his earlier thought. The older version of Rex might not be around to watch over him  _ physically, _ but he'd done the next best thing: he'd taught him everything he could. That also explained why Ezra had been able to take down as many of the men as he had, and why Fives had had difficulty pinning him down. Out of all the men in the 501st, Rex was the only one who could still consistently beat them.

It helped that Ezra fought both dirty and with proper fighting techniques, or at least from what Rex had gathered from the rest of the boys, and he knew that most of the men didn’t. They didn’t really know any fighting techniques, because hand-to-hand wasn’t exactly stressed in standard Kaminoan training.

“Right,” Rex said, straightening slightly. “Ezra, this is Fives, and Echo. They’re some of our best hand-to-hand fighters, so you’ll be going up against them today.”

Fives grinned. “Yeah, we’ll be seeing what you can do when you’re not confused and barely conscious.”

Ezra returned his grin, with a wry edge to it. “I feel like I should apologize.”

Echo laughed. “Oh, you didn’t hurt him at all, if that’s what you were worried about.”

“No, I’m sorry for beating you up that badly. That can’t have been good for your pride,” Ezra’s grin was now a full-blown smirk, and Fives threw his head back, laughing. 

“You’ve got guts, kid, I’ll give you that,” Fives managed, trying to get his laughter under control. “I’d promise to go easy on you, but I’m thinking you wouldn’t appreciate that.”

“Not really,” Ezra returned with a quiet chuckle.

Hiding his grin under his bucket, Rex gestured over to the sparring mats. The room itself was mostly clear, the handful of troopers who were there sensing a fight and beginning to drift over to the mats as well. "C'mon, kid, I didn't get to see your little demonstration last week."

Gesturing for both Fives and Echo to get onto the mat, Rex turned and barely suppressed a groan when he saw that Ezra had discarded his jacket, leaving it lying in a heap on the floor. Now just in a black sleeveless shirt, he rolled his shoulders and stretched even as he walked onto the mat.

Considering how many years he had been fighting, Ezra had remarkably few noticeable scars on his arms. A few small lines here and there, and a cluster of old pinpricks in each elbow, either from IVs or drugs (and Rex wasn't sure which one he'd prefer), but the only really noticeable scar was a starburst that peaked out from underneath his shirt on his left shoulder. The distinctive shape told Rex he'd been shot, and not terribly long ago, given that it hadn't turned completely white yet, but it was its location that set off alarm bells in the back of Rex's mind. He'd been shot in the back, which either meant that someone had managed to sneak up behind him, or he'd turned his back on an enemy. Either way, the kid wasn't going to last long if he let either happen to him with any frequency.

He was quickly distracted from his thoughts by Echo, who raised an eyebrow. "Both of us against the one of him? That hardly seems fair."

"Yeah," Ezra shot back with a smirk as he settled into a fighting stance. "It isn't fair--to them. I'm gonna wipe the floor with them."

As the boys laughed and cheered, with Fives rolling his eyes and copying Ezra's position, Rex spoke up. "Just humor me, kid. I'm not trying to see you get beat, I want to see what you can do."

The room fell silent as Echo fell into a fighting stance, too. No one was wearing any armor, putting them all on even ground in that department, but Fives and Echo each probably had fifty pounds on Ezra, minimum, and a few inches. Still, if the kid was fast enough--

All thoughts of Ezra's chances flew from Rex's mind when Ezra moved. He darted towards Fives, grabbing his right arm and coming in close to elbow him twice, once in the stomach and once in the neck, before whirling to face Echo, somehow simultaneously tripping Fives, who was flat on his back before he'd even realized the fight had started, the impact knocking the breath out of him. As Fives gasped for air, Echo narrowed his eyes and charged.

They met halfway. Ezra ducked Echo's fist, trying to land a hit on his stomach, but Echo dodged nimbly to the side, kicking the kid in the knee. Ezra let himself hit the ground in a roll and came up a few paces away, panting slightly as he favored his knee. Echo grinned and mockingly gestured Ezra forward. The kid growled and charged, but Rex could see something in his eyes that made him realize just how smart the kid was fighting.

He knew he was young, so he'd be underestimated. In fact, he was banking on it. He acted wounded and angry, letting Echo think he had control of the fight, when it was actually Ezra who was controlling how things went.

Echo side-stepped as Ezra charged him, but the kid was expecting it, and slid feet-first into one of Echo's legs, knocking him off-balance before coming up behind him. Echo whirled around swinging, landing a punch on the kid's side, but Ezra retaliated by trying to punch him in the throat, forcing Echo to raise his arms to block. Unfortunately, that left his abdomen exposed, and Ezra landed a series of quick jabs before Echo dropped back.

Behind them, Fives hauled himself up to his feet, lunging at Ezra's back, knocking the kid to his knees as he tumbled to the floor. Fives was up again quickly this time, flying at Ezra with a series of quick punches that Ezra dodged with relative ease. Echo used Fives's assault as a distraction, jumping behind Ezra's back and pinning him in a headlock.

As soon as Echo had Ezra pinned, Fives sprang forward, launching a flurry of blows at Ezra's ribs. The kid managed to twist away from some of them, but most of them landed, causing him to grunt in pain. As he tried to dodge another punch, he whipped his head back, slamming into Echo's nose, making him loosen his grip a bit.

That was all Ezra needed. Reaching behind him, he planted his hands firmly on Echo's shoulders. Fives took a step forward, trying to stop him from doing whatever it was he was trying to do. Except that was apparently what Ezra had been counting on him doing. The kid launched himself up, kicking off of Fives and flipping over Echo's head, pulling Echo down as he did. Echo slammed into the ground, the impact knocking him out instantly.

Fives only spared a second to glance at Echo before returning his gaze to Ezra, who had a strange look in his eyes, one that Rex recognized. It was the look a brother got when their mind got stuck back on the battlefield, when they couldn't quite remember that they'd left the fight behind them. Fives seemed to notice as well, because he dropped his guard a bit, concern flashing across his face.

Ezra apparently didn't notice. He sprang forward, nimbly avoiding tripping over Echo's prone body, and threw a series of blows at Fives, before feinting a blow to Fives's head. As Fives went to block, Ezra dropped, sweeping his leg out to knock Fives's feet out from under him. Fives managed to hop up to avoid the low kick, but didn't--and couldn't, really--avoid the swift uppercut to his jaw that knocked him flat on his back. A boot landed on his throat, and Fives grinned.

Grabbing Ezra’s leg, Fives yanked him off of him, sending Ezra tumbling through the air. Ezra somehow turned it into a pirouette, landing in a crouch as Fives pulled himself up. 

Rex frowned. Fives was moving carefully, favoring his right side, where Ezra had landed a pretty good jab a minute ago. Still, Fives was raising his fists, clearly ready to go another round, while Echo was still unconscious or at the very least dazed on the mat.

Ezra didn’t give Fives much time to recover. As he launched another flurry of attacks, moving so quickly it was difficult for Rex to tell where each blow landed, Fives retaliated. His blows weren’t quite as fast or as rapid-fire, but they always managed to land inside the kid’s guard. 

The end of the fight happened fast. Ezra tried to land another jab on Fives’s rib--the same one he’d hit earlier--and Fives grabbed his arm and pinned it, drawing back to punch Ezra in the face. Ezra quickly stomped on Fives’s foot, and Fives retaliated by throwing the punch, then kicking out Ezra’s knee.

Ezra landed in a crouch with a grunt of pain before taking a shot at Fives’s groin. Instantly, Fives doubled over in pain. Ezra somehow hooked a leg over Fives’s shoulders and twisted, throwing Fives to the ground with Ezra crouched on top of him, one knee on Fives’s arm, the other on his chest, and a fist raised to punch Fives in the face.

The entire crowd around them was dead silent. The clones were looking at each other in shock, as if asking, 'did that just happen?' and Rex felt a surge of pride. Granted, he wasn't the kid's only teacher, and technically speaking he hadn't actually taught him anything, but the fact that the kid was able to hold his own against some of the best-trained troopers in the 501st was impressive.

After a second or two of heavy panting, Ezra blinked, and Rex could see his mind catching up with his body. The moment he realized where he was, Ezra stood, glancing around anxiously as if expecting someone to attack him.

From where he was lying on the mat, Fives wheezed a laugh. "You didn't hold back at all, did you, kid?" As Ezra sheepishly helped him to his feet, Fives held a hand to his bruised rib. "We're going to have a round two, just as soon as I can breath..."

"I think you mean a round three," Rex said with a smirk. "But maybe this'll teach you not to underestimate an opponent because they look younger, smaller, or weaker than you. Someone get Echo off the floor, get him to the medbay. Get Kix to fix his nose."

Ezra came to stand next to Rex, watching with a red face as a couple of the others grabbed Echo and began hauling him off to the medbay. "Sorry," he said softly, and Rex gave him a surprised look.

"What for?"

"Forgetting where I was." Ezra's reply was soft as he awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. "I saw white armor and grey walls and suddenly I was somewhere else. I'm... I'm just not used to it, that's all. And I could have hurt someone. Again."

Rex reached over and grabbed his shoulder, trying to reassure him. "It's alright, it takes time." He tried not to let it bother him when Ezra stepped back, making Rex's hand fall from his shoulder.

"Yeah, but..." Ezra fumbled for words before finally managing, "I was on an Imperial ship--surrounded by Imperials--for eight months before I ended up here. I was starting to get comfortable, or at least comfortable enough not to go into fight-or-flight mode every time I walked around the corner to find a Stormtrooper standing guard. But now, here, it's, like, a million times worse. If I went off in the Stormtroopers, they would understand, they wanted to go off on me everytime I pulled out my--a weapon, but if I start randomly attacking clones because they remind me of something that doesn't exist, that'll raise questions I can't answer, and it could ruin my chances of staying here." As the rest of the crowd began dispersing, Rex led Ezra to the back of the room, where they could talk more privately.

Rex winced. “Well, I’m... sure it’ll get better?” He offered, mentally cursing the uncertainty in his voice.

Ezra looked at him with a startled laugh. “Wow, Rex, that was really convincing.” Rex huffed a wry laugh, rubbing the back of his neck, and Ezra looked away. “Seriously, Rex, you don’t have to tiptoe around me like that. I’m not fragile.”

“I’m not treating you like you are.” At Ezra’s unimpressed stare, Rex amended his statement. “Well, not fragile like a flower. More like a bomb.”

Ezra gave a small laugh. “What, you think I’m going to explode on you?”

“You’ve been exploding on everyone else,” Rex said dryly as he handed Ezra a towel, who accepted it with a grateful nod. “I don’t see why I would be any different. You’ve got a bit of a temper.”

Ezra sighed, dragging the towel over his face. “Not usually. Usually I’m calmer. It’s just…” Ezra paused as he grabbed a cup of water from a table against the wall. 

Rex nodded in sympathy. “Unusual circumstances. I get it.”

Ezra raised an eyebrow at him. Rex wasn’t sure where he’d learned the gesture, but somehow it made him feel like he was being scolded for being an idiot. “I really don’t think you do, and I really hope you never do. It’s… lonely, being the only one who understands, but I don’t want everyone else to know of it means that the Empire rises again.”

Rex wished he had something to say to that, but Ezra was right. As awful as it was, it was better that Ezra was the only one who understood what he’d been through. That would mean that not nearly as many lives had been destroyed. As much as he wanted to understand what the kid had been through, it would be better if he didn’t.

_______

Anakin really wasn't sure what to make of the new kid. He was unfailing helpful, always willing to lend a hand, and unexpectedly kind, but he was also quiet--secretive, almost, never willing to share. At the age of nineteen he had almost as much battle experience as Anakin did, and any time they asked him about it he shut them down fast. But then when Anakin walked into the mess about three weeks after Kix had first allowed him to leave the medbay, he was surprised to find Ezra sitting with several clones, laughing and joking with the rest of them as they ate. The kid was still tense, but he was smiling and telling stories. Based on the way the others were laughing, it was a pretty good story. As Anakin drew nearer, he caught the tail end of it.

"...but of course, when we get back, Mom and Dad are waiting for us, and, you know, Mom asks if we're alright while Dad is pestering us about whether or not we actually crashed it. We say we're fine, and of course we crashed it, trying very hard not to look at each other because we know if we do they'll figure out we're lying, though honestly I'm surprised they didn't figure it out because my  _ orivod _ was a terrible liar, and I wasn't much better at the time."

"But did you get the meiloorun?" Fives asked as he gasped for breath, tears of laughter running down his face.

"Yup!" Ezra said happily. "Mom really wasn't expecting it, but, hey, we didn't want to disappoint her. But, yeah, that was the most entertaining grocery run I ever made."

"So what did you actually do with the ship?" Hardcase asked, grinning.

Ezra shrugged, taking a bite of his food before answering. "Stashed it. My sister gave it a new paint job. Later, my dad got into a bit of trouble and we used it to get him out. My mom was not happy that we had kept it, but she couldn't complain because it came in handy."

Jesse huffed. "I'll bet. Hey, General. You've been missing story time."

Anakin smiled as he folded his hands behind his back. "Well, that's a pity, it sounds like it was entertaining. And, sorry, boys, but I'm going to have to borrow him--" he pointed at Ezra "--for an hour or so. I need to show  _ Lieutenant Jarrus  _ to his bunk, after all."

Around the room, cheers broke out. Anakin had only just gotten the comm from high command with Ezra's new rank and assignment, but the majority of the men had been waiting with bated breath to find out whether or not they got to keep the kid. Somehow, he'd managed to endear himself to nearly everyone onboard in just a few short weeks. Added to that the fact that he'd received the highest marks Rex could give in the majority of his assessments, and the vast majority of the men would probably have rioted if Ezra hadn't been given his commission.

Ezra was blushing as Fives and Echo, who were sitting on either side of him, clapped him on the back. Grinning bashfully, he stood, snapping to attention and throwing a salute, only made slightly mocking by a small smile that tugged at one corner of his mouth. "Sir, yes, sir. Lead the way."

Anakin grinned and turned on his heel, the cheers echoing in his ears as Ezra followed him out of the mess hall.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando'a: ori'vod--older sibling, special friend  
Quick note on ranks in the Republic army: Lieutenant falls right below Captain in the chain of command, so Ezra still answers to Rex, but he's above Sergeant Appo. Again, I have no idea how the military works, so if this is a gross misrepresentation of how that works... oops?


	6. I Will Rearrange the Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm pretty sure this will be the only non-canonical event that doesn't occur because someone did something. Almost everything else is going to be a change to an episode/arc, and the fallout from that.   
Just as a side note, someone asked if Ezra knows who Vader/Anakin is, and the answer is yes. And that will color some of his interactions with other people.  
Thank you to everyone who left kudos or a comment on my last chapter, I wasn't 100% confident about it. You're all very encouraging, and I'm pretty sure I would have up and abandoned this story without you guys.  
Chapter title from Light by Sleeping At Last.

Personally, Ahsoka hated space battles, and for obvious reasons. While her Master was an excellent pilot--and enjoyed it--Ahsoka was better and more useful in the ground campaigns. Sure, she could and would fly in dogfights, but it was always so hard to keep track of a battle in three dimensions. So when the  _ Resolute  _ dropped out of hyperspace at what was supposed to be an empty void of space so they could make the jump to Coruscant and instead found a small courier ship being attacked by a Separatist command ship, she had to suppress a groan. This was just their luck.

Beside her, looking uncomfortable in the uniform Rex was still making him wear, Ezra rolled his eyes. "Typical," he muttered before turning to Anakin, who was issuing orders.

"All fighter pilots, report to the hanger. You need to draw the fighters away from the courier. Admiral, keep trying to raise the courier. I'll be leading Shadow Squadron. Ahsoka, you stay here and coordinate. Lieutenant, I think it's time to test your piloting skills."

Ezra grinned and threw a cocky salute. "Right behind you, sir."

Ahsoka put her hand on Ezra's arm before he could leave. "Be careful out there."

"I will be," he said before running after Anakin, who was already leaving the bridge.

With a sigh, Ahsoka turned to the holotable, which already looked chaotic, Separatist fighters zipping around, harrying the courier, and blaster bolts flying every which way. It only took a few more minutes for the first of the fighters to lift off from the  _ Resolute's  _ hanger, but in that time there was an explosion in the aft section of the courier. Still, the arrival of the Star Destroyer and its accompanying fighters managed to pull some of the droid fighters away.

"This is Shadow Leader," Anakin's voice sounded over the comms. "All fighters, check in."

_ "Shadow Two, standing by." _

_ "Shadow Three, standing by." _

Ezra's voice was startling over the comms, the difference between it and the clones' stark.  _ "Shadow Four, standing by." _

As the rest of Shadow Squadron called in, Ahsoka turned her attention to Admiral Yularen, who had been repeating, "Unknown courier, this is Admiral Yularen of the  _ Resolute _ . Do you read?"

It was a tense few minutes as, out of the viewport, Ahsoka could see bits of the dogfight that swirled around the three larger ships. She could hear Anakin, Ezra, and the rest of the boys as they calmly tried to keep each other updated on their status. The next voice over the comms, however, was not male, but it was one Ahsoka recognized.

_ " _ Resolute _ , this is Senator Amidala. Our courier came under attack as we made our way back to Coruscant. Please, our hyperdrive was damaged in the battle, and it's going critical. The Separatists are attempting to dock. We don't have much time, please--!" _ Her voice was cut off by static, and instantly Ahsoka could feel Anakin's barely repressed panic over their training bond.

Somehow he managed to sound calm over the comm.  _ "Admiral, they've docked with the courier and are boarding. We can't risk an attack run; it could damage the Senator's ship and jeopardize anyone on it." _

Yularen nodded. "I would suggest a strategic retreat so that we can come up with a better plan."

_ "What? No," _ Ezra sounded slightly outraged, and Ahsoka wondered if he knew who this woman was. She'd never come up in any of their conversations, although the number of conversations they'd had about his past was surprisingly minimal.  _ "If we retreat to the Resolute, there's nothing stopping them from taking off with their hostages. We have to stay out here!" _

_ "Follow your orders, Lieutenant. We have to retreat. We're not doing any good out here. Besides, the shortest way back to Separatist space is through the route we just arrived from. We're blocking their way. That should buy us enough time to come up with a rescue plan." _ Anakin didn't exactly sound happy about it either, but with the confirmation that they were coming back, she left the bridge at a run, sliding into the hanger in time to see the squadron land.

Anakin was first out of his fighter. "Get my ship ready to go back out there," he ordered one of the troopers on deck before turning toward Ahsoka. Artoo rolled up beside him after ejecting from the fighter, quickly displaying a holographic image of the situation outside. As the rest of the pilots and a good number of the men from the 501st clustered around them, Anakin crossed his arms. "Alright, our goal is to rescue the hostages, which includes a Senator. We cannot afford to screw this up. The courier is a lost cause, if we try to run the engines it'll explode. We just need a way to board the ship."

"What about the gunships?" One of the pilots--Lockout, she was pretty sure his name was--asked.

Ahsoka shook her head. "The problem isn't how we get the men over there, it's how we get the men on board. There are no gaping holes in the hull, and the only openings are the hangers, but the gunships won't fit in those."

A beat of silence passed as they all stared at the hologram, trying to figure this out. If this were any other space battle, Ahsoka would suggest using a dogfight as a distraction to sneak, say, the Twilight up to one of the airlocks. But a dogfight would mean blasterfire, which would mean the possibility of hitting the courier. With no indication of how stable the hyperdrive was, they couldn't guarantee that a stray shot wouldn't hit the engines and make the whole ship go up in flames, which could damage the Separatist ship and kill the hostages.

"I've got a plan," Ahsoka jumped slightly at the voice, turning to raise an eyebrow at Ezra, who'd spoken. "But it's kind of insane, and very risky."

Anakin grinned. "You might have heard it by now, but those are our specialties around here." Stepping back, he gestured for Ezra to outline his plan.

"Right, so the only openings are the hangers, which are big enough for the fighters." Ezra began.

Jesse cut him off. "Well, yeah, the Separatist ships have to dock somehow."

Ezra rolled his eyes, frowning slightly at the interruption. "Yeah, well, they're also big enough for  _ our  _ fighters. So we take the pilots that are best at ground combat, use the long-distance Y-wings, and put our best fighters in the gunner's seats. Between that and the Jedi, we should have enough men to free the hostages. I know you're used to more of the, 'take a lot of men and overwhelm them' approach, but a smaller team will be unexpected, and have a better chance.  


"We split into two teams; the main one goes after the hostages and gets them to the escape pods. We'll have to act quickly to catch them in the tractor beam and pull them aboard. The other team will head to the courier and rig it to explode. If we time it right and use the escape pods on the opposite side of the ship from the airlock that they're docked in, then we should be able to use the explosion to hide our escape. We'll just need our pilots to scramble back to the fighters as soon as the second team signals that they've completed their objective, and have the  _ Resolute  _ move around to catch the escape pods the moment they're jettisoned. Any troopers who aren't needed to pilot the fighters can stay with the hostages to ensure they get to the escape pods safely, and then use the escape pods themselves."

Anakin stared at him. "Well, it'll work. Probably. How in the world did you even think of that?"

Ezra shrugged nonchalantly. "Done something similar in the past." Then he blinked as if he'd just realized that no, technically speaking he'd done something similar in the future, and Ahsoka had to turn her face to hide her smile.

"Well," Rex said, and Ahsoka could hear the skepticism in his voice. He didn’t like relying on so few men. Still, he didn’t argue with the plan. "I guess we have our strategy."

Anakin nodded. "Alright, I need the Y-wings prepped for combat. Rex, Fives, Echo, Hardcase, Jesse, and I need four more volunteers, you'll be our gunners for this one. Ten minutes, then we lift off. Dismissed!"

As the crowd quickly dispersed, Ahsoka saw Rex put his hand on Ezra's shoulder. For a moment, she thought he was reprimanding Ezra for speaking out of turn, but as she moved closer, she caught Rex saying under his breath, "Well, now I know you got your father's military brains." With a fond chuckle, Rex moved off towards the bombers.

Ahsoka grinned and glanced over at Ezra, expecting him to be smiling, too, or at the very least blushing slightly like he usually did whenever someone complimented him. Instead, he was scowling darkly at Rex's back.

"Hey," Ahsoka said gently, putting her hand on his arm. "You okay?"

Ezra took a shuddering breath before shaking her hand off. "I'm fine. We need to focus on the mission."

Ahsoka started to protest, wanting to know what was bothering him, but he was already marching off toward Fives, who'd been assigned as his gunner.

Ezra's dark mood didn't leave her thoughts until take-off. As the nine bombers took off, with two men per ship, Ahsoka forced thoughts of the young man from her mind. She had been assigned to group one, which would be handling the hostages. Lockout--Shadow Three--Ezra, Hardcase, Vac--Shadow Seven-- and Current, Vac's gunner, were team two. Everyone else was going with her and Anakin.

_ "Alright, Shadow Squadron," _ Anakin called over the comms.  _ "We get one shot at this. We screw this up, it'll be the hostages who die." _

_ "Understood, sir!" _ was echoed multiple times by the boys, and Ahsoka added, "Don't worry, Master, we know what we're doing."

The Separatists noticed them coming. Scores of fighters began pouring out of the hangers, spitting blaster fire as soon as the bombers were in their sights.

_ "Don't fire back!" _ Anakin reminded them.  _ "If we hit the courier, it's all over!" _

Ahsoka nodded and tightened her grip on the controls. As a pair of fighters barreled towards her, she feinted left before barrel rolling right, letting the fighters whiz past her. As another two made a run above her, she dove, completing a loop. Her gunner, Jesse, fired when she was facing up and away from the Separatist ship. Around her, the boys seemed to get the idea, and Ahsoka could feel Anakin's approval leaking through their bond. As Ahsoka pulled up so that she was back on course, though, she had to weave through a light show of blaster bolts, cursing when one clipped her left engine. A fighter barreled towards her, and she pulled up before diving again, weaving through the dogfight as she tried to lose the fighter on her tail.

"Hey, I need some help over here!" She called through the comms, glancing over her shoulder to try to see the fighter. She caught a glimpse of it before it exploded and a Y-wing made a tight corkscrew before falling in on her left flank.

_ "Got your back, Sa--Ahsoka," _ She raised an eyebrow at the stumble over her name, but Ezra ignored it. " _ We need to get back on course. If we don't get to the Separatist ship soon, they might make the jump to hyperspace." _

_ "Agreed," _ Anakin said.  _ "Shadow Squadron, tighten formation. We're going in." _

With the forty-odd remaining fighters still on their tails, the bombers fell into formation, still weaving back and forth slightly to avoid the waves of blasterfire that the fighters had no qualms about unleashing. The Separatist ship loomed in Ahsoka's canopy as they barreled towards it. The small openings that were the hangers grew, too, but she couldn't help the sliver of doubt that they were going to fit.

They broke up when they got close, each pilot choosing one of the four hangers to slip into. Slapping the landing gear controls, Ahsoka clenched her hands on the controls, gritting her teeth as her bomber screeched to a halt inside the hanger, coming to a stop a few meters from the back wall. Quickly, she popped the canopy, leaping out with her lightsabers already lit to take care of the droids that were standing around in confusion. Apparently, no one had been expecting them to attempt a maneuver like that.

The droids' bodies hit the floor as the others climbed out of their ships, and without a word they split into their groups. Vac, as the most experienced, was in charge of group two, even though he wasn't the highest ranked. His team quickly dashed out of the hanger towards the airlock, while Anakin took point on their team and they charged deeper into the ship.

Finding the hostages turned out to be as easy as letting Artoo, who, as usual, had accompanied Anakin in his fighter, plug into the computer. They were being kept in the brig, which was conveniently at about midships, which would make it easy for both the pilots' evac and the hostages'. And that only put a few dozen droids between them and each objective.

Padme looked up, startled, when they burst through the doors of the brig, quickly dismantling the guards. "General Skywalker? Thank goodness you've arrived."

Anakin rushed up to the door of her cell. "Are you alright, Senator?"

She hummed softly, staring into his eyes. "I'll be fine. We need to get out of here."

Behind her Master's back, Ahsoka was struggling not to pretend to gag at how obvious they were being. No wonder the whole 501st knew they were a thing.

A few minutes and a mechanical whir later, and the doors to the cells sprang open. Instantly, Padme and the rest of her crew grabbed the guns that the droids had dropped. As Anakin led the way out of the brig, the comlink on his wrist chimed, and he brought this arm up to his mouth. "Lieutenant, report."

_ "Objective complete."  _ Ezra sounded slightly winded, but not hurt.  _ "Courier's ready to blow at the push of a button. You need to tell the rest of the pilots to get back to the hanger. Hardcase and Current can cover for you and Ahsoka, pilot your bombers out, but they need to get going now if we're going to pull the timing off on this one." _

Anakin raised an eyebrow as he gestured for the pilots to do exactly that. "Copy, Lieutenant. Just remember who outranks whom here. I understand this was your plan, but these are still my men."

Ezra sounded chagrined, yet annoyed. _ "Yes, sir, sorry sir. We'll see you back on the  _ Resolute _ . Jarrus out." _

As Anakin led the charge toward where Artoo said the escape pods were, Padme looked at him out of the corner of her eye. "Who was that?"

"Lieutenant Jarrus. New kid, good fighter. Not so good at orders. You'll like him." Anakin replied with a grin before launching himself at the group of droids that had just rounded the corner of the corridor.

The Separatists clearly had no idea what was going on on their ship. The droids they came across were just random patrols who were more startled to see them than they were to see the droids. None of the security measures--including the ray shields, blast doors, and more heavy-duty battle droids were anywhere to be seen. That made it almost laughably easy to get to the escape pods.

Ezra commed them again as Anakin was "helping" Padme into one of the four-person pods.  _ "General, we're at the hanger, about to leave. Ready to blow this joint at your command, sir." _

Anakin ushered the rest of the hostages into their pods before bringing his comm back to his mouth. "Light her up, Lieutenant."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the ship jerked, shuddering as a resounding boom rocked the entire vessel. Ahsoka stumbled, grabbing onto the threshold of one of the pods as she tried to keep her feet. Distantly, she heard Rex shouting, "let's go, let's go! Move it, people!" Quickly she ducked into the pod, strapping in as Fives slammed the eject button and the pod went shooting into space.

The  _ Resolute _ was right were it was supposed to be. The pod lurched as the tractor beam latched on, dragging every pod into the starboard hanger, where the bombers were already docked, being checked over by technicians. Ahsoka scrambled out of the pod, hurrying over to where Anakin was waiting, Padme at his side. Rex was a ways off, ensuring that the rescued hostages were given medical attention, while Ezra was standing behind Vac, who was giving his report to Anakin.

Ahsoka got over there in time to catch the tail end of Vac's debrief. "...the lieutenant decided to grab a copy of the computer core from the Separatist ship. If it hadn't been for Lockout, he would have gotten himself killed for that thing." Vac's tone and the glare he was giving Ezra told Ahsoka exactly what was going on.

Anakin pursed his lips. "I see. And what exactly do you have to say for yourself, Lieutenant?"

"Sir, I thought it would be beneficial for the Republic to know how the Separatists managed to find the one courier that was carrying a Senator, and how they managed to get to a hyperspace lane that led into the Core so easily. If we could find out how they did that, we could prevent it from happening again."

"That wasn't your mission," Anakin reprimanded, and Ahsoka had to bite her lip to keep from smiling at the image of a kid getting scolded by his parents. The fact that Padme was looking on with concern in her eyes wasn't helping.

"I know!" Ezra exclaimed, scowling. "My mission was to escort Current and Lockout to the courier so they could rig it to blow, and I did. I just decided that I could do more. I didn't endanger anyone but myself doing it, and I believe it's my prerogative to risk my life if I believe the reward to be worth it."

Vac's glare deepened. "Except that you  _ did  _ risk Lockout's life. If you hadn't run off, he wouldn't have followed you and nearly gotten shot!"

"I didn't ask him to! I told him--and the rest of you--to get back to the hanger and get out of there! I could have handled it by myself!"

"Don't you get it, Lieutenant?" Vac practically snarled the title. "You're one of us, now. One of the  _ vode _ . We don't leave our brothers behind. When you throw yourself into danger like that, we are going to follow!"

"Enough," Anakin cut in, massaging his temples. "Vac's right, Lieutenant. You disobeyed orders and needlessly endangered yourself. That said, you did retrieve what could be invaluable information. You get off with a warning. One more incident like this, and you'll find yourself with either a demotion or a suspended command."

Ezra looked like he was going to protest, but shut his mouth. With a curt nod, he turned on his heel and marched out of the hanger, his shoulders trembling with barely suppressed emotion.

Anakin sighed tiredly. "That kid, I swear..." He gave Padme a wry grin. "Sorry about that."

She smiled softly, although the concern still hadn't left her expression. "It's alright, General. It's not your fault."

"I don't get why he was being so..." Ahsoka floundered for the right word. "Defensive."

"I think the word you're looking for is snippy," Anakin put in, giving her a significant look. "He probably just needs more time to adjust. He's not used to following orders."

Ahsoka nodded, letting her gaze drift back to the hallway Ezra had disappeared down. Something was eating at him, and she didn't think it was the fact that he wasn't used to the military. She needed to talk to him, and soon.


	7. Some Truths Are Sharper Than Knives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, there's some dialogue here that's taken directly from an episode, obviously that's not mine. Chapter title is from South by Sleeping At Last.  
Comments and kudos are appreciated. Seriously, let me know what yo guys think!

The opportunity to talk to Ezra didn't come until that night. Anakin had shown Senator Amidala to her quarters, which were conveniently next to his, and was currently 'discussing their route back to Coruscant' in her chambers. Ahsoka had barely been able to keep a straight face when Anakin had announced that to her, Rex, and Admiral Yularen. Honestly, how did he think it was still a secret? Still, it gave her a perfect opportunity to talk to Ezra, who had secluded himself in his room immediately after they'd gotten back.

His quarters were on the officer deck, and thus had a lock. She could override it, because she outranked him, but that felt like an invasion of his privacy, so instead she just hit the buzzer and waited until Ezra opened the door.

He was wearing his uniform, minus the jacket, and glowering at her as he stood in the doorway. "If you came to get on to me, I'm really not in the mood."

"I didn't come to get on to you," Ahsoka reassured him, although she smiled a little at the thought. "You're two years older than me, so that'd be awkward. Although, I do outrank you, so I think I could get away with it."

Ezra snorted. "Experience outranks everything, and I’m three years older than you." Still, he moved aside to let her into his room. As the door slid shut, she sank into the chair at the desk while he sat down on the bed, bringing his knee up to his chin. "So, why're you here?"

Ahsoka shrugged. "Can't I be here just to hang out?"

Ezra shook his head. "If you wanted to hang out, you'd be dragging me off to the commissary or the training room, because your idea of fun is either 'let's eat' or 'let's punch stuff,' not sitting around talking."

"Okay, your knowledge of my habits is creepily accurate."

"I have met you before."

Ahsoka let the silence reign for a minute before asking, "Did you know who she was?"

"Who, the Senator?" At her nod, Ezra huffed. "Yeah, I knew my birth mother was Senator Amidala. You and Rex told me that she was the most likely person. And honestly, I can see why. Isn't it supposed to be a secret?"

"Yeah," Ahsoka giggled. "The Jedi Order isn't big on attachments, but seriously, who do they think they're kidding? The entire 501st knows, and I'd wager good money that most of the 212th has suspicions at least."

"The 212th?"

"Master Obi-Wan's battalion."

"Oh." Ezra let the silence linger for a moment before asking, "Do you think he knows?"

Ahsoka shrugged. "If he does, he's either not saying anything out of respect for Anakin, or he's covering for him because Anakin is the exact opposite of discrete. Padme's fine, she's a Senator so she understands discretion, but Skyguy most certainly does not." Ezra huffed a laugh, looking down at the floor, and Ahsoka realized she'd gotten sidetracked from her original reason for being here. "So why were you being so difficult earlier?"

Ezra raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Don't play coy. You disobeyed orders, ignored rank by talking back to and practically bossing Anakin, and then you were practically pouting when you were dismissed. You were being difficult, and I want to know why. Anakin thought maybe you were just adjusting to being in the army and such, but it's not like you haven't been a part of an army before, so I know it's not just that."

Ezra sighed. "That is...  _ part _ ... of it. The command structure here is a lot more rigid than it was in the Rebellion. Granted, my commanding officer was my--well, we were close. I could get away with sassing her as long as I still obeyed orders, but even then, there was some flexibility. If I felt I could accomplish the mission better, or I could do more if I did something else, then I usually wouldn't get reprimanded too badly as long as I didn't take unnecessary risks and endanger anyone. I had more... autonomy, I think's the word I'm looking for. And as great as the  _ vode  _ are, they don't seem to understand that I work better on my own. If I'm not worrying about everyone else, I can focus on the mission better."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes, noting several things she needed to ask him about later, but focused on one thing for now. "Didn't you have someone watching your back back in the Rebellion?"

"Well, yeah, I had a crew, a team, around me, but we all knew where our strengths and weaknesses were, so they let me work alone when I needed to. Which was often, especially there at the end."

“Okay,” Ahsoka said, shifting in her seat, “but why go after the computer core? You had to know things would be different here, so why?”

Ezra shrugged, fidgeting with the hem of his top. “Partly because, like I told General Skywalker, I thought it could help in the future. Partly because I wanted to see if the codes I remember Uncle Rex using when he was trying to teach me how to hack would work. The securities outdated by our standards--the Empire had years trying to improve it, while the Separatists seem like they’re just using the most convenient form of cybersecurity they could find.”

Ahsoka held up a hand. “He was  _ trying _ to teach you? You put your life in danger for something someone had tried to teach you?”

Ezra shrugged. “It worked.”

“Oh, sweet Force,” Ahsoka muttered, looking up at the ceiling. “You really are an idiot. How did you survive this long?”

Chuckling, Ezra spread his hands. “Honestly, my commander asked the same thing pretty much every day. I’d say blind luck, but I think we both don’t really believe that exists.”

Ahsoka nodded, but frowned, going back to her mental notes. "Who was your commanding officer? You said you were close, but she wasn’t, like, your girlfriend or anything, was she?"

Ezra choked, a disgusted expression on his face. " _ No _ . No, she was most definitely not my girlfriend. She had a good ten years on me, for starters, and she was with someone else literally the entire time I knew her. She was like my mom. So not my girlfriend. Why is that your immediate assumption?"

"Well, you know how your father is, so..."

And just like that, what levity had been in the air vanished. "Don't call him that. He might have been my parent, but he wasn't my father. He isn't my dad."

"Isn't he?" Ahsoka asked. "I mean, it's so obvious how you take after him. You've got his authority issues, his piloting skills, and his tactical mind, like Rex said earlier. So why deny it?"

"Because those aren't things you get from genetics!" Ezra exclaimed angrily. "Those are things I learned or developed because of my environment or the people around me. My 'authority issues?' I'm used to being the one in charge. I learned to fly from my mom, and of course Rex thinks I've got a good tactical mind. He trained me. For  _ years _ . And he wasn't the only one. The only thing Anakin Skywalker gave my was half of my genetic code. That's it."

Ahsoka stared at him. "You know, anyone else would take being compared to the Hero With No Fear as a compliment."

"Yeah, well, I'm not one of them."

"Clearly." It didn't make sense, though. He was turning down every opportunity to learn more about the father he never had, his actual biological father. Sure, there had been someone else who'd raised him, and obviously loved him, but that wasn't the same. If she was in his shoes, she knew she'd be dying to know more about her heritage, where she'd come from, what it would have been like if the galaxy hadn't fallen to pieces.

Oh. Wait. There was a thought.

"Are you afraid that it's going to happen again?"

Ezra started slightly. "What?"

"The whole 'galaxy as we know it collapsing around our ears' thing. Are you afraid that's going to happen again? I mean, it sounded pretty traumatic, and you didn't actually even live through it. You're afraid of getting close to him and then losing him again, aren't you?"

Ezra huffed softly. "No. I'm not afraid of losing him. I'm afraid of being him."

Well, that cleared... absolutely nothing up. "Why? He's a Jedi, a hero to the pretty much the entire galaxy. Why is being him such a bad thing?"

"Because he's not a hero to my galaxy!" Ezra snapped.

Ahsoka blinked. "What?" She managed, and Ezra froze.

He didn't move for several seconds, his eyes darting back and forth like his mind was racing and he didn't know how to make it stop. She was about to lean over to shake him, make sure he was alright when he said suddenly. "Get out. Now." She stared at him in confusion, and he clenched his jaw. "Please go. I... I need to be alone."

Ahsoka shook her head. "Not until you explain what you meant." Ezra opened his mouth, either to argue or deflect, she wasn't sure which, but she cut him off before he could even start. "No, Ezra, tell to me. I need an answer."

Ezra looked down at the floor. "I--I shouldn't."

Ahsoka huffed in frustration. "You do that every time. You start opening up, giving us information that will be helpful, and then you cut yourself off and shut us out. I just... I can't keep operating in the dark, and I know Rex and Kix are getting tired of it, too."

"I..." Ezra trailed off, looking at his hands miserably. "I want to tell you. I do. I know you could do a lot if you know what's coming. But I don't want you to freak out over stuff that may not happen, and I don't... there's stuff that's happened to me that I won't relive, not for love or money. I start telling you stuff, it eventually leads down that path and every time..." He looked at her, tears glinting slightly in his eyes. "I've seen so many people die. I only know a shattered galaxy. I already see it when I close my eyes, when I look around. I don't want you to see it, too."

"I don't want to see it either. But if you--if  _ we  _ can't do something to change things, we're gonna see it. We're going to see it firsthand. So, please, I don't need to know more about your past, just tell me about my future. Tell me you're doing something to stop it."

Ezra exhaled shakily, sitting back in defeat. "I swear I am doing something, it's just... more subtle than you'd think." She raised an eyebrow, silently prompting him to continue, and he groaned softly. Looking down t his hands, he was quiet for a minute before sighing again and meeting her eyes. "Look, when I first got here and realized what was going on, I did a lot of thinking, and I came up with three possible ways of changing things. One, I gather evidence and expose the Sith Lord. Honestly, that way's probably the most difficult, considering that I have zero credibility and no idea where to start, and if he found out I was on to him, I would probably end up very dead, very quickly. Two, I could try to take out his secret weapon, the one he used to wipe out the Jedi. This would be tricky, because again, no credibility, and if the Sith Lord found out his weapon was being disarmed, he would probably go ahead and use it, because there's no way I could disarm it all in one fell swoop without alerting someone beforehand."

"Alright," Ahsoka drew the word out. "Makes sense. But what's number three?"

Ezra squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before looking down at his hands. "Count Whatever-his-name-is was killed a few weeks before the war was ended, and there is always a Master and an Apprentice. The Emperor was the Master, and... he convinced a Jedi to fall to the Dark Side. Darth Vader helped him rule the galaxy, terrorized the people. Nearly killed Aunt 'Soka."

"That's why you've attached yourself to a battalion, isn't it? So you can get to the Temple and convince the Jedi not to fall."

Ezra hesitated for a moment before saying, "I'm exactly where I need to be for this to work."

Realization crashed into Ahsoka like a tidal wave. There were two Jedi in this battalion. She had nearly been killed by the second Sith.  _ Anakin Skywalker is not a hero to my galaxy. _

"No," the word slipped out of her before she even realized she was talking. "No, you're wrong, you have to be wrong. It's impossible. He couldn't--Anakin Skywalker would  _ never  _ fall to the Dark Side! He's my Master, I know he wouldn't!"

Ezra gave her a sad smile. "That's almost exactly what Aunt 'Soka said when she confronted him. I was right there, I heard him. I heard both of them. But it was him. Anakin Skywalker became Darth Vader."

Ahsoka shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut to try to hold in the tears. "No," she whispered.

Ezra shifted on the bed. "I know it's hard to hear. Trust me, I know. Aunt 'Soka didn't tell me there was even a possibility that Vader was Anakin until he was right in front of us and she was telling him she wouldn't leave him. And... Master Kenobi was also one of the survivors. I met him once, just a couple years ago. He confirmed it. Apparently he fought Vader, put him in a life support suit, then took me and hid me in the Outer Rim."

Ahsoka stared ahead, mute with shock for several minutes while Ezra watched her carefully out of the corner of his eye. Finally she managed, "Show me."

He raised an eyebrow. "How?"

"Lower you mental shields and concentrate on that memory. I need to see it. I need to know you're telling the truth."

Ezra pursed his lips, clearly not happy with that plan, but he seemed to understand her need for actual proof. "Fine. But just that memory, nothing else, got it?"

She nodded and settled a little better in her seat, trying to get comfortable before reaching out with the Force and brushing against the durasteel walls of Ezra's mind, which parted just a crack to let her in, and suddenly she was thrust into a completely different scene.

**_______**

_ Pain flared in her right arm and suddenly she was lying on the ground of a building of some sort, pulsing red energy rippling through the air. A stiflingly cold presence towered in front of her, and she looked up to see a man in a black mask and cape staring down at her. Hate and fear rolled off of him in palpable waves. Realistically, she knew she was seeing Ezra's memories, knew that the hate and fear must truly be strong if even a Force-null could feel it, but all she could focus on was the mounting terror as the figure stalked towards her, red lightsaber ignited and ready to end her life in a heartbeat. _

_ "Perhaps I was wrong," the masked figure said, his voice a mechanical baritone. Ahsoka tried to drag herself backwards, away from the figure, cringing as he lifted his 'saber, but before he could bring it down, a voice echoed from behind him. _

_ "It wouldn't be the first time." _

_ The masked figure lowered his 'saber, turning to look at the person who spoke, letting Ahsoka see... herself. She was older, obviously, and taller, with longer lekku and more developed montrals. She wore grey armor and was holding two lightsaber hilts, and was staring at the figure-- Vader-- with a guarded expression. _

_ "It was foretold that you would be here," Vader said. "Our long-awaited meeting has come at last." _

_ "I'm glad I gave you something to look forward to," Ahsoka replied, glancing at where younger Ahsoka--Ezra, in the actual event--was laying, trying to hide the concern in her eyes. _

_ Vader sheathed his 'saber. "We need not be adversaries. The Emperor will show you mercy if you will tell me where the remaining Jedi can be found." _

_ Younger Ahsoka began to carefully pull herself backwards while Vader spoke, trying not to put any pressure on what felt like a broken right arm. Still, she kept a close eye on Vader and Older Ahsoka, trying to see what was happening. _

_ "There are no Jedi," Ahsoka spat bitterly. "You and your Inquisitors have seen to that." _

_ "Perhaps this  _ child _ ," Vader said, turning to Younger Ahsoka, "will confess what you will not." _

_ "I was beginning to believe I knew who you were, behind that mask." Older Ahsoka had a strange expression on her face, a mixture of disappointment, disgust, and resignation as she said, "but it's impossible. My Master could  _ never  _ be as vile as you." _

_ "Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him." _

_ Older Ahsoka squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, then opened them, muttering, "then I will avenge his death." _

_ "Revenge is not the Jedi way." _

_ "I am no Jedi," Ahsoka illustrated her point by igniting her two blades, which illuminated her face in a stark but gentle white light. How in the world she'd gotten white lightsaber blades was a mystery, but as she leapt at Vader, swinging both 'sabers in graceful arcs, Younger 'Soka was distracted by the sound of the voice that came from her throat. _

_ "I need a lot more training," Ezra said, but before Ahsoka could fathom what he meant, her vision darkened, only to clear a second later. _

_ She was on her feet now, something clutched in her left hand while someone held her right, making it throb in agony, but that was nothing compared to the terror of seeing Vader stalk towards them from the other side of the chamber, hand extended as he used the Force to pull at whatever Ahsoka was clutching. Her feet slipped against the pulsing floor as she tried to pull away from Vader, the person behind her trying to help. _

_ "I've got you!" A garbled male voice that somehow meant  _ warmth-comfort-safety _ echoed behind her, right before a white blur charged Vader from behind. _

_ He let go of the Force grip, sending Ahsoka and the person with her sprawling from the lack of resistance, as he turned to try to block Older Ahsoka's attack. She swiped at his mask before pushing off, landing in a heap between Vader and the other two. Vader, too, sank to his knees. _

_ Ahsoka felt her body moving, getting up and pulling someone else--she caught a glimpse of armor, a green shirt, and a sentinel's mask--to their feet, and heard Ezra's voice screaming, "Ahsoka! C'mon, hurry!" But all she could focus on was the confrontation that was now behind her. _

_ As Older Ahsoka pushed herself to her feet, the same mechanical baritone rang out, only this time, there was something else to the voice, something she recognized. "Ahsoka," he said, then again: "Ahsoka." And she realized what that other layer to his voice was. It was the voice of her Master. _

_ He turned to face her, and while Younger Ahsoka couldn't see whatever it was the older version saw, she did hear her say, "Anakin." _

_ Younger Ahsoka helped the man beside her into a waiting shuttle, turning when she heard Ahsoka cry out, "I won't leave you! Not this time." _

_ Younger Ahsoka could see Vader and Older Ahsoka both on their feet, facing each other with their lightsabers unlit but in their hands. Vader didn't say anything for a minute, and Younger Ahsoka took a step towards them, determined to help somehow, before she heard Vader's hiss as he ignited his 'saber. _

_ "Then you will  _ die _ ." _

_ She ran forward, Ezra's voice calling out for Ahsoka, screaming in denial, only for Older Ahsoka to Force-shove her back. The last glimpse Ahsoka had of her older self let her see the acceptance on her face before the wall slammed down in front of her and her vision went black. _


	8. Some Truths We Wish We Could Hide

It took a bit for Ahsoka to reorient herself to reality once she came out of the memory. According to Ezra, it had taken all of twenty seconds, but as she tried desperately to control her breathing, she wondered if it had actually only been that long. Granted, the memories themselves didn't last terribly long either, but living through them like that...

Ahsoka looked up as something nudged her shoulder to see Ezra standing next to her, a bottle of water in hand. Wordlessly, he passed it to her, and she drank gratefully. Her head was pounding and her throat and eyes ached from crying. The water helped a bit, but it didn't distract her from what she now couldn't deny.

Anakin really had Fallen. He'd helped the Sith destroy the Jedi and take over the galaxy. Hell, he was a Sith. He'd nearly killed Ahsoka, and would have killed Ezra--his own son, even if he didn't know it--if Ahsoka hadn't interfered.

It took Ahsoka a few minutes to manage to say, "how are we supposed to keep that from happening?" Her voice was more strangled than she'd like, but at least she got the words out.

Ezra sighed, sitting back down on the bed. "Master Kenobi said part of the reason that he Fell was because he was afraid, and he didn't have anyone to turn to. The Jedi as a whole were doubting him, Obi-Wan was off helping the war effort, and Aunt 'Soka was on Mandalore with Rex. He didn't have anyone he trusted, and the Sith used that."

"So, what, we just stick to him like mynocks and hope he doesn't go crazy and kill everyone?"

Ezra gave her a look. "Okay, cynical is not a good look on you. Leave that to Master Kenobi. No, we try to make sure he knows he can trust us, he can turn to us for help. And not just us; Master Kenobi, Rex, any of the 501st. If he knows he's not alone, he won't feel like the Sith are his only option."

Ahsoka nodded. It made sense, and it was a good plan, if a little vague. But it meant she had to face her Master knowing what he was going to become, knowing he was going to help with the destruction of her entire way of life. He was going to be responsible for thousands if not millions of deaths. And she had to look him in the eye and pretend that wasn't going to happen, pretend she hadn't seen what he was going to become.

"How can you stand it?" She asked softly. "Looking at him, being in the same room as him, knowing what he's going to do... how have you not driven yourself crazy? Especially since you know you’re related..."

Ezra sighed, shrugging. "I can tell the difference between Anakin and Vader. There was a part of Vader that was Anakin, but I don't think there's really a part of Anakin that's Vader. Not yet, and hopefully not ever if we have anything to say about it. Besides, couldn't you feel Vader's presence? I could, and that means something. I'm pretty sure he doesn't feel anything like that. Just keep that in mind. And, I mean, yeah, I'm used to making the distinction between current and future versions of people--Ahsoka versus Aunt 'Soka, Captain Rex versus Uncle Rex, et cetera--but that just takes a bit of mental discipline to get the hang of. It'll get easier."

Ahsoka sighed and nodded. "Does anyone else find out?" She asked softly.

"That Vader was Anakin?" At Ahsoka's nod, Ezra looked down. "Not right away. I couldn't... I didn't know how to tell them. Especially Rex. We'd lost Aunt ‘Soka and I wasn't sure, not yet, I think I was in denial, so I just... never mentioned it. It stopped being important to anyone but me after a few weeks. We had missions to focus on."

"So the guy who’s with you, he doesn't hear?"

Ezra's mental shields had always kept her from getting an actual read on his emotions, and maybe it was just the fact that they were still resettling after letting her in, but at her words, she felt his emotions like a punch in the gut. The pain, grief, and feeling of being totally lost left her gasping. How did he carry that around with him, on top of everything else, and not break?

Ezra didn't seem to notice her reaction. "No, he didn't. He was more focused on getting us out of there, and he'd just been injured. Badly. You probably couldn't see it." He stopped for a second, then huffed a dry laugh. "Although, he couldn't either, and that was the problem." Ahsoka raised an eyebrow, not sure what he meant by that, but Ezra plowed on. "Back to your original question, I told the others after I met Master Kenobi. I realized that if I was isolating myself because I was afraid to trust the people closest to me, then I was making the same mistake Anakin did. And it could have had the same consequences."

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. She didn't know Ezra that well, but one of the first things she'd figured out about him was that he was very cagey with information. He never shared more than he felt like he had to to get the others off his back. He'd even admitted to forcing an emotional breakdown in front of Master Obi-Wan in order to get him to stop trying to get more information about his family. So the fact that he was actually going back and answering her original question was suspicious. Which was kind of sad. His actual honesty rang more alarm bells than his normal evasive tactics.

Still, that raised the question as to why he'd bothered. He could have very well left it at that, let her pick another topic of conversation.

Except he probably knew she'd press further about the man who had been with him. The pain she'd felt from him in that split second was such a stark contrast to the security and comfort she'd felt when she'd heard his voice that she wanted to know what had happened that had turned comfort into grief.

She opened her mouth to ask, then thought better of it. Chances were, Ezra would never get to see that man again, so bringing him up probably wasn't a smart move. So instead, she asked, "Wanna go punch something?"

"As long as something doesn't punch back," Ezra agreed with a tired smile before getting up.

He let her leave the room first. Such a gentleman. She was going to wipe the floor with him.

**_______**

Padme carefully rolled off of the bed, trying not to disturb Anakin. Force knows he didn't get enough sleep as it was, she didn't want to wake him now. She smiled softly down at him, committing the peaceful look on his face to memory as she always did. Honestly, sleep was probably the only time he relaxed anymore, except when the two of them were alone. Knowing that she was one of the only people he let his guard down around never failed to make her heart ache with the amount of love she had for her husband.

She slipped on her leggings, a clean shirt, and her boots--the heavy-duty work ones, not one of the elegant pairs with a four-inch heels, seeing as she was going for practical instead of fashionable--before slipping out of the dark room. The ship was still in its night cycle, although it was getting on towards morning, so the hallway was fairly well-lit. Padme prayed that the light hadn't woken Ani as she walked through the halls of the ship towards where she was fairly certain the training rooms were.

Normally, Padme would have exercised more caution when leaving Ani's quarters--or she wouldn't spend the night with him at all. But she knew the majority of the 501st knew, and they cared enough about their General to keep their secret. The looks she and Ani had gotten as they'd walked through the halls would have told her that, even if she hadn't already known. She was pretty sure Anakin hadn't noticed at all. He was incredibly perceptive on the battlefield, noticing every detail, but when he was around people he trusted, he might as well have been blind, he was so unobservant.

Padme sighed as she pulled her hair out of her and into a ponytail. It was far simpler than her usual hairstyles, but she just wanted it out of the way for a bit while she worked out. The training room would probably be deserted this early, making it the ideal time to get some practice in.

She apparently wasn't the only one who'd had that thought. The blunt rhythmic thumps that echoed through the room as she walked through the door drew her attention to the far left side of the room, where the punching bags were. Through the maze of equipment, she could make out a tanned figure throwing punch after punch into one of the bags, causing it to shudder from the blows. The dark blue head of hair told her that it was the lieutenant from the mission, the new kid that Anakin had had to reprimand for disobeying orders. What was his name again? Jarrus?

Padme honestly didn't try to sneak up on him. Yes, she approached with her usual light step, but she thought he would notice her. When he round-house kicked the punching bag and jumped slightly when he saw her, though, she quickly realized he'd probably zoned out.

The lieutenant reached out and stopped the bag's swinging, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "Ma'am. Um, can I help you with something?"

Padme shook her head, smiling softly. "No, but thank you, Lieutenant. I thought everyone else would still be asleep. Are you usually up this early?"

He shook his head, walking around the bag so that he was facing both it and her. "I'm not up early, I'm up late."

"Can't sleep?"

He huffed as he threw a punch, which landed with a dull thump. "Don't want to try."

"Why not?" Padme asked as she grabbed a roll of tape and began wrapping it around her hands.

"Well, let's see."  _ Thump. _ "Adrenaline high."  _ Thump. _ "Uncomfortable bed."  _ Thump, thump. _ "Bad dreams."  _ Thump, thump _ . He looked up long enough to give her a wry smile. "Take your pick."

As he threw a series of forceful blows at the shuddering bag, Padme couldn't help but wonder how old he was. He stated bad dreams like they were commonplace, but he didn't look much older than twenty. Earlier, he had seemed like an actual teenager, trying to explain why he was right when all the adults were telling him he was wrong. Now, though, in the stark lighting of the training room, the dark shadows under his eyes and the equally dark look in the made him seem like he was one of the adults.

"When General Skywalker told me there was a new kid in his battalion, I didn't think he meant an actual kid." Padme said as she walked up to the bag next to the lieutenant's and set her feet.

Next to her, he huffed. "I'm not a kid. I'm nineteen, which on most planets makes me an adult."

"You have to understand that to Anakin and the clones, that makes you practically a child."

"That makes no sense. The General's, like, three years older than me, and literally none of the clones are older than ten. I'm really not a child, especially compared to them."

Padme laughed as she began punching the bag. "Try explaining that to them."

"I have! It's always, 'sure, whatever you say, kid,'" he dropped his voice to a passable imitation of a clone a the last part, then shook his head before launching another flurry of attacks at the bag.

After a couple minutes of silence except for the rhythmic pounding on the dense bags and the panting breaths of both of the room's occupants, Padme asked, "Why are you here?"

He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow as he threw another punch. "Couldn't sleep? Pretty sure we covered that already."

"I meant with the 501st. Why are you fighting?"

"Oh." He sighed and stepped away from the bag, slowly starting to unwrap his hands. "I've been in this fight for years--since I was fourteen. I have all this training, I can fight, so it just would seem wrong not to, you know?" He huffed and sat down on one of the benches scattered between the training equipment. "Gah, I'm not good with words. But... a friend of mine once said 'because I can fight, I feel like I have to, for those who cannot.' There are so many people who can't protect themselves from this war, but I can, so I have to."

Padme watched him carefully as she, too, stepped away from her bag. Slowly she sat down next to him, moving gingerly so as not to exacerbate the stitch in her side from the intense and rather abrupt exercise. "I must admit," she said softly, "that takes more courage and a greater sense of duty than most people would ever find."

He looked up at her, giving her a lopsided smile. "Didn't you do that, though? Back when you were the Queen of Naboo? You could have let the Senate talk about the fate of your world until it was too late, but you chose to act. And now, you're still doing that. You're a former Queen, a Senator, and a wife, and you could be at home talking about it but you're running relief missions instead."

Padme's eyebrows shot up. "A wife?"

"Oh, right!" The lieutenant face-palmed. "It's supposed to be a secret. I forgot."

Padme gave a surprised laugh. "How long have you been here?"

"Like, a month? Most of that was spent in the medbay."

"And you already know Ani and I are a couple?"

He at least had the decency to look sheepish. "I mean, yeah, it's just kind of... obvious. He looks at you like--like you hung the stars, and you kriffing shared a room last night. You're hardly subtle."

Padme laughed again. "Only when we're among friends. Otherwise, I make him have some restraint. I knew most of the 501st already knew, but you've been here a month and you've picked up on it? Stars, I need to lecture him about discretion."

"Yeah, probably," he grinned and started to get up. "Oh, and Senator? Just so you know, there's a betting pool about how soon after the war's over you're going to announce your marriage. Currently I've got fifty credits riding on 'less than a month.'"

Padme couldn't help it. She laughed, nearly doubling over. It took her a minute to compose herself long enough to say, "Thank you. I'll try to make sure you win." He grinned and threw her a cocky salute before turning to leave. "And it's Padme," she called after him. He turned with a curious expression and she explained, "My name. It's Padme. None of that 'Senator' business. Force knows I get enough of that from the troops, and I can't convince them to stop."

He nodded with a smile and stuck out his hand for her to shake. "Lieutenant Ezra Jarrus."

She shook his hand with a gentle smile, then watched him leave before turning back to the punching bag.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: Padme's internal monologue was going to say something about always liking the name Ezra, but I decided against it for various reasons. Also, Ezra quoting Leia to Padme makes me laugh.  
I feel like I always ask you to leave comments and/or kudos, but seriously, let me know what you guys are thinking about the story. It's a real motivation booster.


	9. A Million Choices, Though Little on Their Own

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, back to the action! The Mortis arc is probably one of the most important in the Clone Wars, but I'm not gonna lie, I didn't understand what was going on the first time I watched it.   
I also wanted to thank each and every person who left comments or kudos on the last chapter. I was feeling really unsure about my own writing abilities, and you all made me feel much more confident. So seriously, thank you.

It had been a strange day for Rex. After their return to Coruscant, finishing the impromptu escort mission to bring Senator Amidala safely to the capitol planet, Rex had taken the 501st and had been on his was on his way to the Outer Rim, where they would undoubtedly be needed, when the Jedi Council had called. They were given a new assignment: follow an old distress signal on a Jedi-encrypted frequency to find its source. Establish whether or not it's a trap, evaluate threat level if it is. Straight forward enough.

It got strange when Generals Skywalker and Kenobi and Commander Tano arrived. Because at first they didn't. Skywalker was on the line, asking where Rex was, while Rex was asking the same thing. Because they were both apparently at the coordinates, except that neither could see the other. Rex was about to ask if this was some sort of Jedi nonsense when the signal abruptly began cutting out before dying altogether.

Beside him, Yularen stiffened. "What happened? Why'd we lose them?"

"Unclear, sir," the ensign on comms answered. "It's like they simply dropped out of range."

"I think we're ignoring the bigger question," Rex said, crossing his arms. "Where are they? According to both our navicomputers, we're at the same coordinates. Then something happens and we lose contact with them? I don't think that's a coincidence."

He chanced a look at Ezra, who was staring at the holotable with as much confusion and worry as Rex was feeling. Well, that wasn't good. If this was something the kid from the future didn't know about, this could either be one of two things: something he hadn't paid attention to when it came up in conversation, or something that didn't happen last time around. If it was the first, then that made it questionable as to whether or not they could rely on the kid's knowledge of future events at all. If it was the second, that made it hard to predict what was going to happen if things that Ezra's presence could hardly affect were randomly changing.

The comm flickered suddenly and Rex whipped his head back around to stare at it. Simultaneously, another ensign called out, "Got a shuttle inbound. Just appeared on our scopes, sir."

The comm lit up and Rex let out a sigh of relief when he saw his General slumped over what was probably the console of the ship. He was slowly pushing himself up, blinking in confusion.

"General, are you there?" He asked trying not to let the worry be too obvious in his voice. The holo only showed General Skywalker. He had no way of knowing if Ahsoka was alright--or General Kenobi, for that matter. When General Skywalker looked up, relief flashing briefly across his face, Rex continued, letting himself relax ever so slightly. "Is everything alright? We lost you there for a second."

"That was more than a second, Rex," Skywlaker said, almost amused.

Rex blinked in confusion. "Sir, you just disappeared for a few moments. You haven't been gone that long."

Skywalker looked over his shoulder at someone who was outside of the projection, obviously confused. The mic on his side of the transmission barely caught Master Kenobi's voice saying something about the whole experience being strange before Skywalker turned back to Rex, an uneasy smile on his face. "We'll... explain later. We're coming in now."

Rex nodded, and, as the transmission ended, glanced over at Ezra. "Lieutenant, you're with me." Ezra straightened and stuck close to Rex as he followed the captain through the ship. Softly, so that the others they were passing in the hallways wouldn't hear them, he asked, "I don't suppose you know what's going on."

"I don't know for sure. This could literally be any incident. You guys hardly told me war stories in chronological order, and I doubt you told me all of them. You mostly told me about the most important ones, like Geonosis, or the worst ones, like Umbara."

Rex huffed as he entered the hanger. He should have thought of that. Of course they hadn't talked about everything, and he should have accounted for unreliable narrators. He just hoped whatever the kid did know would be enough to change the outcome of the war. He also made a mental note to interrogate the kid about Umbara, as that was the first he’d heard about it.

He mentally shook himself as he approached the shuttle, which had already docked. The two generals were slowly walking out, discussing something quietly under their breath. He sighed in relief when Ahsoka popped out a moment later, giving Skywalker and Kenobi a quick glance before she spotted Rex and Ezra. The moment she saw them, she looked relieved and ran over, practically tackling Rex in a hug.

He froze for a millisecond. Ahsoka, like the rest of the Jedi, wasn't big on physical affection. The most he'd ever seen her do was high-five one of the boys after a particularly "awesome" fight. Now, she was pressing her face into the junction of his neck and shoulder, trembling slightly as she squeezed her arms around his waist.

Rex hesitated for a moment before wrapping one arm around her trembling shoulders, using the other to pull her a bit closer. If she was this badly shaken by whatever had happened, then she needed all the comfort he could provide. She sighed slightly, relaxing when he didn't push her away, and he rubbed her back soothingly, all the while sending General Skywalker the most panicked look he could manage because this had not happened before and he had no idea what to do.

Skywalker was unhelpfully looking on from the shuttle, very obvious confused. Kenobi apparently saw his expression and turned, his face going straight from surprised to amused. Well, they were both very helpful.

"It's alright, Commander," Rex said quietly. "You're back, we've got you."

He felt her breath on his neck as she snorted softly. "That sucked."

"I'll say," Rex said, loosening his hold on her. She seemed to get the message and let go, stepping back. Rex continued, ignoring the fact that she wasn't looking him in the eye. "You disappeared and now you're acting like it's been a lot longer for you than it was for us. Care to fill us in?"

Ahsoka pursed her lips. "Debrief later. I need to eat. You and Ezra are more than welcome to join." Rex understood the implied message there.  _ We need the time-traveler's opinion on what just happened. _

"Hang on there, Snips," Skywalker interjected as he and Kenobi walked up behind her. "You need to get Kix to check you out."

"I'm fine, Master," Ahsoka said, rolling her eyes.

Skywalker crossed his arms, scowling. "Maybe you are now, but you very much weren't. I can't--" He cut himself off, his scowl turning into sadder. "I just need to know you're okay."

Behind Rex, Ezra spoke up. "He's right." Ahsoka shot him a betrayed look and he raised his hands defensively. "Hey, I don't know what happened out there, but if you were injured, you need to let Kix look after you, if only for our peace of mind. Rex and I can tag along, keep you company." Good, he'd gotten the message, too.

Kenobi nodded. "Good idea. In the meantime, Anakin and I can fill the Council in on what we've discovered."

"Fine," Skywalker said. "Captain, Lieutenant, I leave her in your hands. Make sure she actually goes to the medbay."

Ahsoka spluttered as Kenobi and Skywalker walked out of the hanger. Rex chuckled slightly at her outrage before gesturing for her to lead the way to the medbay.

** _______ **

"It was all so strange," Ahsoka said as Kix passed a scanner of some sort over her. She was sitting on a bed in a private room in the medbay, watching Kix carefully as he checked her over. "Like, that place ignored pretty much every rule known to the universe. Laws of physics? Meaningless. Concept of time? Might as well have never existed. And the people there--" she cut herself off with a shudder.

Ezra was watching her like a hawk from the stool in the corner. "Who were they?"

Ahsoka shrugged, earning a scowl from Kix as he tried to attach a sensor pad to her forehead. "They called themselves Father, Son, and Daughter. The Son was sort of an embodiment of the Dark Side, while the Daughter was the Light Side. The Father just kind of kept the balance."

"The one in the middle," Ezra muttered, nodding. "Let me guess, he had a long beard and weird, pointy hat? The Daughter had pale hair and white and green robes, and the Son had red eyes and black clothing?"

Ahsoka gaped at him. "How'd you...?"

"Seen a painting of them on an old building on a planet in the Outer Rim." Ezra answered distractedly. It was obvious from the look on his face that his mind was a million parsecs away. "The Daughter saved your life?"

From his position near the door, Rex spoke up for the first time. "Oh, so we  _ did  _ mention this mission."

"In passing, yeah. It was an offhand remark, and there was a lot going on at the time. But did she?"

Ahsoka nodded, causing Kix to roll his eyes and reattach a couple of the sensor pads. "Yeah, sort of. I kind of... died?" At their shocked expressions, she raised her hands defensively. "Only for, like, a minute or two! The Daughter was also dying, so the Father had Anakin transfer her life essence or something like that to me. So I'm fine."

Kix managed to splutter, "you just admitted to dying! You are so far from fine it's not even funny! When the tests come--" He was interrupted by the machines dinging, and Ahsoka and Kix both leaned over to see the readout. Rex couldn't see what it said from where he was, but from Ahsoka's triumphant "ha!" he figured it had come back clean.

As Kix muttered about how that wasn't possible, Ezra shook his head in disbelief. "When Aunt 'Soka said the Daughter saved her life, I was not imagining that. What happened to the Son and the Father?"

"The Son... he did something to Anakin. The Father reversed it, but... for a bit, Anakin Fell." She shot Ezra a look that Rex didn't quite understand. "Anakin doesn't remember it, the Father wiped his memory of what happened so he's back to normal, but that was terrifying. Then the Son tried to confront the Father, the Father commited suicide to distract the Son so Anakin could kill him, then the whole planet exploded and we woke up on the shuttle."

Almost none of that made any real sense to Rex, but this was Jedi business. He was pretty sure Jedi business wasn't supposed to make sense.

As Kix shook his head, muttering under his breath as he removed the sensor pads, Ahsoka looked over at Ezra. "I think the Father knew something about you. While Anakin and Master Obi-Wan were gone while I was repairing the shuttle, he told me that you were supposed to help ensure balance was restored. He also told me to tell you to, and I quote, 'go to the place where you faced your demons for they must be faced again.'"

Ezra looked confused. "Where I faced my... okay, I've faced demons in several places. He should have been more specific. Did he say anything else that might narrow it down?"

Ahsoka shook her head. "He seemed to think you would know what he was talking about."

"Well, I don't," Ezra muttered.

Rex frowned. A powerful Force-wielder gives the kid advice, and he can't seem to figure out what it's supposed to mean. Rex was fairly certain he wouldn't either, until it was too late for it to be useful. That would just be typical. Still, as Ahsoka hopped off the bed, Rex shook his head. He had more important things to worry about, such as convincing General Skywlaker that Ahsoka was indeed fine.

"Why can't we ask the Generals about this? Or, well, tell them about it? Maybe leave out the Skywalker part of it, but if they knew you're from the future, we'd have an easier time preventing it from happening." Kix asked, obviously just as put out by the situation as Rex was.

Ezra instantly shook his head. "We can't. Not only do we have literally no proof without the DNA test--and good luck explaining that to General Skywalker without freaking him out--but we can't let word that we know what's going to happen reach high command."

"Why not? They'd be able to help more than just the four of us can," Rex said.

Ezra huffed. "Because the Sith has eyes and ears inside high command. He'd find out."

"And kill us," Ahsoka finished with false enthusiasm.

"Oh, no, he'd just arrange for the three of you to die," Ezra assured her in a matching tone. "He'd imprison me somewhere and pump me for information while simultaneously making sure every word I had ever said was discredited so that his plans would still be in place."

"You seem awfully sure of that," Rex said, raising an eyebrow.

"Well, Uncle Rex told me that something similar happened when one of the boys found out about the Sith's secret weapon, only the Sith didn't bother imprisoning him. He just made everyone think he was delusional and had him shot. Only good news is that he managed to make Uncle Rex suspicious enough of the weapon for him to keep both himself and Aunt 'Soka safe from it."

Rex narrowed his eyes. "It was one of our boys?" Ezra hesitated then nodded. Rex took a half-step forward, trying to meet Ezra's eyes. "Who? Did I give you a name?"

"...No."

Well, there was a relief. Ezra was a terrible liar; at least that meant he couldn't hide anything.

"A name, Lieutenant. I know I mentioned it. So tell me."

Ezra exhaled softly, closing his eyes briefly before meeting Rex's gaze. "Fives."

Rex took a step back, bracing himself against the wall, his vision going fuzzy at the edges even as his eyes widened. Fives dies. He gets shot, and the only thing that comes out of it is that Rex and Ahsoka survive the rise of the Empire. Fives dies, because he knows too much.

Kix was suddenly at Rex's side, easing him into a seat. Rex didn't normally going into shock, he'd gotten so used to the constant shock of the war that he'd thought he was immune at this point. But the idea of Fives dying pointlessly, and being killed by brothers most likely, given how Ezra had phrased it, made his knees give out.

Distantly, he heard Ahsoka asking, "You knew he was going to die and you befriended him anyway?"

Ezra's voice filtered through the ringing in his ears. "I knew he died in the original timeline. Given that I haven't been wiped out by a paradox, I'm going to assume that any choice we make now puts us on an alternate timeline or something like that. Nothing we do affects the future I remember, just the future we're making. So while he might have died then, there's no guarantee the same thing will happen this time."

"Then shouldn't we change as little as possible?" Kix asked. "After all, with your knowledge, we've got a handbook on how not to screw up the future, but if we change it than it becomes useless."

"Except that the handbook was useless anyway, because one: it was incomplete. I don't have full knowledge of every single mission you're going to go on or how it's going to affect the war, so we can't rely on that to get us through the whole war. Two: that handbook tells you how to build a future that will result in you burning the galaxy to ashes. It's better to throw it out the window now before things start going wrong."

"So if we want to change things, why aren't you sharing everything you know with us?" Ahsoka demanded. "It feels like you only share when things become relevant. If we know what happened last time around, we can do more to prevent it."

"Or," Ezra countered, "you'll rely too much on that knowledge and flounder when it becomes useless. You're already doing that, relying on what I know, and it's not even in your heads yet. I'll share when it's relevant, I promise, that way you can make informed decisions, but otherwise it could do more harm than good."

"So you're just going to do it all by yourself," Rex muttered, finally breaking his silence.

Ezra looked down at his boots, shrugging. "It's probably better this way. I always end up alone anyway, I'm used to it."

Rex opened his mouth to protest, then realized why Ezra would think that. His birth parents had died when he was born, then his other parents had been arrested when he was still a child. He'd mentioned other family, but they were obviously not here anymore. He really did end up losing everyone.

Ahsoka didn't seem to agree. "You've still got us, though. Rex and I, and now Kix. We've got your back."

"Except I don't 'still have you,' Ahsoka. You're not the same person as the woman I know. Physical differences aside, she was older, more mature, and more settled. You act more like a teenager than I do most of the time, and Rex is the same way. You're both younger versions of the same people, yes, but there were experiences that shaped them that you haven't gone through, and hopefully never will. So don't pretend you're the same people that I knew. You of all people should know why that's not the case."

Ahsoka opened her mouth like she was about to protest, but then shut it firmly, tears glimmering in her eyes as she looked away.

Rex frowned. He wasn't sure what they were talking about, and he really wanted details, but this didn't seem like a good time. So instead, he met Ezra's eyes. "Even if we aren't the same people, you do have us in your corner. You can trust us, and you know we're not going anywhere."

"You don't want to go anywhere," Ezra corrected. "But guess what? No one ever does, but they go anyway. Just trust me, it's... easier this way."

"We do trust you," Kix said, "But is this easier for everyone, or just you? Because right now the future is relying on you, and if you can't do it on your own, then you need to admit that before everything goes sideways."

Ezra narrowed his eyes. "I won't let that happen."

Rex scoffed slightly. "No one wants that to happen, kid, but it did anyway. As much as I admire your determination, that's not going to save the galaxy."

Ahsoka shifted, crossing her arms. "Alright, Rex, I think he gets the picture." Rex shot her a look, surprised that she was giving up the interrogation this quickly, when they were actually getting something out of him, but she just shrugged. "He'll talk to us when he's ready to talk to us. Some of what he's been through... it's probably not something he wants to relive."

Ezra shot her a grateful look. Almost immediately, his, Rex's, and Ahsoka's commlinks chimed, and Rex glanced down at his comm, recognizing the signal.

He sighed. "Command wants a debrief. Officers are required to attend. C'mon, Commander, Lieutenant, let's go face the music."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...and they know about Fives. Ezra isn't telling them about the chips for the reason he told Ahsoka last chapter: if they start removing them, Palpatine might find out (it takes a bit to recover from brain surgery, he'd notice if too many people were down for the count) and trigger it early. Also, Ahsoka trying to pass off dying as not a big deal makes me laugh.  
Comments and kudos greatly appreciated!


	10. This Brilliant Light Is Brighter Than We’ve Known

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the closest thing to fluff I've ever written. I don't know if that's more concerning or pathetic.

Ahsoka walked into the barracks, where the paint supplies had been brought out so that the clones could touch up, redo, or add to the designs on their armor. The moment she walked through the door, the smell of the paint fumes made her eyes water, and she wrinkled her nose in disgust.

Beside her, Ezra shifted the armor in his arms a bit so that he could hold it easier. He was trying to keep a neutral face, but Ahsoka could see the excitement and relief that had been in his expression since Rex had dumped the pile of plastoid in his arms and told him not to go too crazy with the paint job. Ezra had been so happy to finally get rid of the uniform and get some actual armor that he didn't even protest to the abruptness of the command.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He didn't seem to be affected by the overpowering smell. As Fives and Echo called him over, he actually seemed to relax, like this was all very familiar to him. He jogged over to the bunk that the two ARC troopers were sitting on, dropping his load on the bunk with a sigh of relief.

"Glad to stop carrying that or glad to finally have it?" Fives asked as Ezra sat down. Somehow, despite the fact that Ezra had taken him out in less than five minutes, Fives had developed a certain fondness for the young man, like he was another little brother he was only too happy to look out for. Or maybe he was just happy to have someone other than Echo to challenge him.

"Bit of both," Ezra replied as he reached for an airbrush. "Glad to have it, but it feels like it weighs more when it's all in your arms as opposed to on your body."

"Isn't that the truth," Echo muttered as he carefully redrew one of the lines on his helmet. Ahsoka sat down next to them, watching as the two clones tried to give Ezra tips on what to do with his armor, but he seemed to already have a plan.

Ezra didn't have a helmet, just a chestplate, pauldrons, greaves, and bracers. He painted two stripes on each of his greaves and bracers, in the signature blue of the 501st. Fives made a teasing remark about it matching his eye color, to which Ezra shot back playfully that it looked better on him than it did on Fives. His chestplate got a single blue stripe, right down the middle, but he took a bit more time on his pauldrons.

His left one got a bird of some sort, graceful, and rising from what looked like flames. He drew it with enough ease that he was obviously familiar with it, but enough care that she could tell he didn't want to mess it up. It meant something to him, then. On his right pauldron, he drew what looked sort of like an animal's head, predatory but refined. He hesitated a lot when painting it, as if he was either trying to decide what it should look like, or trying to remember how it had looked.

It took a couple of hours for them to get done and for the paint to dry, during which time Fives and Echo had filled him in on some of their "favorite" missions, Ahsoka butting in every once in a while to add to or correct one of their stories. Ezra was a good audience, laughing and gasping at the appropriate times, and only asking questions when it didn't interrupt their trains of thought. He did, however, elect not to share any stories of his own. Ahsoka really wasn't surprised. He'd shared a lot in the last couple of days, and even though they hadn't really talked since Mortis a few days ago, she could tell he wasn't ready to share more.

Apparently, though, Fives didn't pick up on that. "So, Ezra, I've been wondering." Instantly, Ezra looked up, stiffening slightly. Fives continued, "Where'd you learn Mando'a? I've heard you using it in casual conversations and you've more than shown that you know all the words that Rex doesn't like, but where'd you learn 'em?"

Ezra shrugged, looking down at his hands. "My sister was one of the  _ Mando'ade _ , I picked up most of it from her. Picked the rest up form either my uncle or the rest of my sister's relatives. When they weren't, you know, trying to kill us."

Fives barked a laugh, and Echo elbowed him. "Don't think he was joking," Echo said to Fives when the latter shot him a confused look.

Fives frowned. "Why were they trying to kill you?"

Ezra raised an eyebrow. "Honestly, I don't know all the details. All I know is that Mandalorians are crazy, and she didn't leave her family on the best of terms. She never talked about it much."

Fives snorted. "That runs in the family."

Ezra ignored the implications in Fives's words, instead testing the dryness of the paint with a gentle tap. "I think this is done. We should probably clean this up, because I do not want to be in charge of cleaning this up if this gets capsized when we're inevitably attacked again."

Echo laughed. "Just over two months with us and you've already picked up on that. Yeah, between our luck and the General's shenanigans, you'll see plenty of exciting things with us."

**_______**

Ahsoka was passing the barracks a couple hours later when she heard someone call her name. Turning, she saw Fives waving at her from a table near his bunk. Ezra, Echo, and Hardcase were all clustered around it, holding sabacc cards and grinning. She walked over, eyeing them warily, because they all seemed to be in too good a mood to simply be playing sabbac.

"Alright, what's up?" She asked when she was close enough that she didn't have to raise her voice to be heard.

Fives gestured to one of the empty seats. "C'mon, join us."

Ahsoka cautiously sat down, relieved but trying not to show it when her seat didn't explode, shock her, or let out a really loud or inappropriate noise. Hardcase grinned at her as he slid a stack of credits her way, and Ezra could barely contain his excitement as he passed her a hand of cards.

After a few minutes of silence as she evaluated the game, she decided that the game itself wasn't a prank. "Okay, what are you guys up to?"

"Relax," Ezra told her. "We're not pranking you."

Fives nodded eagerly. "We're waiting for Kix to wake up so we'll get to see the fruits of our labors."

Ahsoka cast an unimpressed look around the table as they all giggled, Ezra and Fives high-fiving each other. "That doesn't answer my question. What are you up to?"

"Well," Echo said, schooling his face into a serious expression, which was ruined by the obvious mirth in his eyes. "Kix, as per usual when he's napping off-duty, took his boots off before he went to sleep. When he wakes up and puts them back on--"

"--He'll find more than just his feet in his boots," Fives finished, sliding some of his credits into the pot in the center of the table.

Ahsoka stared at him for a moment as she rearranged her cards. "It's not anything dangerous, is it?"

"Pffft, of course not," Ezra was quick to reply. "Only thing it's a danger to are his socks."

"And probably our health when he figures out it was us," Hardcase added with a maniacal grin.

Ahsoka narrowed her eyes. "Did you fill his boots with paint?"

All four of them turned to her with innocent expressions, shaking their heads and muttering, "nope, of course not, why would you think that?"

They played in silence for a minute or so before Echo cracked. "Okay, yeah, we filled his boots with paint." They all started giggling quietly as he folded his cards. "He's going to be so confused, it'll be hilarious."

Ahsoka laughed slightly. "As far as prank ideas go, this is probably one of your better ones."

"Yeah, well, it wasn't mine, it was Ezra's," Fives, the normal prank master, said, and Ezra laughed harder.

"I'm surprised you haven't thought of it before," he managed as he gasped for breath. "Honestly, it's such a perfect opportunity--"

A groan from a nearby bed made them all tense, and they turned back to their cards, all very obviously not looking at the bed. Instead, they exchanged conspiratorial grins and waited.

Kix sat up slowly. Ahsoka could see him out of the corner of her eye if she turned just right, and thus got a perfect view of him grabbing his boots and pulling them over so he could slide his feet into them. The squelch of the paint was audible, and Ahsoka bit back a laugh, hiding her grin behind her cards. Fives and Hardcase were trembling with suppressed laughter, and Ezra was clearly fighting a smile. Echo somehow had his face set in a stony expression, but he was avoiding looking at any of them like he knew he'd burst out laughing if he met their eyes.

Kix wandered up behind Hardcase, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He hadn't noticed yet, but Ahsoka wasn't sure he was awake enough to even identify who all was in the room. "Who's winning?" He said, yawning, and Ezra grinned up at him.

"Not Echo, that's for sure. He just folded."

"It's me," Hardcase interjected. "I'm winning."

Kix blinked hard, looking down at the cards in Hardcase's hands, then snorted. "Not with that hand, you're not."

Ezra and Fives laughed, and simultaneously slid another stack of chips into the pot. They kept glancing at Kix, like they were waiting for him to notice, but Kix just turned and started walking away.

Right as they slumped in disappointment, Kix stopped, leaning against one of the bunks so he could grab his boot. "Okay, what is up with my boots? Do I have something in--" He tugged it off and a small puddle of blue paint dripped out. Kix stared at the now-blue inside of his boot and his blue leg in shock for a moment before spluttering, "What the kriff?"

Fives and Hardcase made the mistake of giggling, and Kix slowly turned around, glaring at them. "You didn't."

Shaking with laughter, Fives dropped his cards and quickly pointed at Ezra. "It was his idea!"

Ezra slammed his cards down, trying to look offended but grinning too much to really sell it. "You were the one who did it! I just suggested it as an idea!"

Kix fumed, turning on Ahsoka. "I'm guessing you had something to do with it too, Commander?"

Ahsoka raised her hands. "I am innocent in this, they just roped me into playing sabbac with them."

Ezra and Fives turned on her, mock expressions of betrayal on their faces. "Oh, Ahsoka, how could you. I thought we were friends, how could you stab us in the back like this?"

Ahsoka smiled smugly. "Easily. Oh, and just so you know--" she laid her cards down for everyone to see-- "full sabbac. I win." With that, she stood, swept her winnings into her arms, and walked out the door. The sabbac chips might not be actual currency and thus had no real value, but the satisfaction of sauntering away with it in her arms while Kix planned the others' murders felt really good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The dynamic between Ezra and the clones was one of the reasons I wrote this. It does absolutely not get explored enough.   
Next week: action, and things start coming to a head.


	11. Is It Faith or Prediction

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, the climax of (this part of) the story is here! I can't tell you how many times I rewatched the Citadel arc, but it was a lot. Obviously, any dialogue you recognize is from the show, not mine, and the chapter title is from Bad Blood by Sleeping at Last--not Taylor Swift, that's a different song entirely.

Heat stung Ahsoka's face when she could finally open her eyes again. Stumbling slightly as the material surrounding her and holding her up melted, she rubbed her eyes as she wandered out to where the others were, having just come out of carbon freezing as well.

"Hey, Snips," Anakin mumbled as he massaged the back of his neck.

"Hey, Master," she replied casually. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Anakin stiffen as he seemed to realize who he'd just greeted, and he turned on her slowly, disbelief and annoyance warring for dominance on his face.

It was Obi-Wan who said something first. "I must have carbon sickness, because I could swear that's Ahsoka."

Anakin huffed. "Your eyesight's fine. It's Ahsoka's hearing that needs help."

"I... received new orders to join the mission. You were just--already in carbonite." Ahsoka mentally kicked herself for hesitating as much as she did. She could tell Anakin and Obi-Wan weren't buying it, either, based on their expressions and general body language.

Behind Ahsoka, another voice spoke up. "She's telling the truth." Ezra came to stand next to her, refusing to balk despite his rather obvious lie. "General Plo assigned us to the mission. He wasn't sure you'd have enough men otherwise, and Ahsoka and I both have unique skills that could come in handy."

Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?" He glanced at Anakin, who sighed in resignation.

"Fine," the younger Jedi said. "You're already here, anyway."

**_______**

Getting into the Citadel and finding Master Piell could have gone better. First the original plan, which apparently had been to use magnetic grappling hooks to scale the cliff, had to be scrapped in favor of free climbing it because of the electric mines. Thankfully, none of them got set off, but then, once they were inside the facility, Anakin gave the order to take out the surveillance cameras, which backfired on them spectacularly--and literally. As soon as the clones took them out, sentry turrets popped out of the walls and opened fire. Between that and the electrified walls that took out Hotshot, they had to know they were here by now.

The door to Master Piell's cell sprang open to reveal four commando droids surrounding the device that held the diminutive Master up, as well as a torture droid that Rex dropped with a single shot to the cranial unit. The rest of the droids were taken care of by Fives and Echo, who cleared the room before letting Obi-Wan and Anakin through.

Obi-Wan watched as Anakin sliced through the machine holding Piell up. He didn't look very good, to be honest. Exhaustion and pain lined his face, although he tried to push it aside as Obi-Wan stepped in to lower him gently to the floor.

"Are you alright?" Obi-Wan asked, and Piell forced a smile.

"Obi-van, vhat took you guys so long?"

Anakin smirked over Obi-Wan's shoulder. "Well, at least your sense of humor survived."

Obi-Wan handed Piell the lightsaber he'd brought for him. "Do you have the coordinates?"

"I've got them," Piell assured him. "Vell, half of them. I had my captain memorize the other half vhen my ship vas boarded. That vay, even if I broke, they'd only have half of the information."

"Where is your Captain now?" Obi-Wan asked.  


"Vith the other officers, I assume."

Cody appeared in the doorway. "Sorry for the interruption, Generals, but we need to get moving. Lieutenant Jarrus hacked into the security mainframe, he says they're sending reinforcements. If we don't move soon, we'll be cut off."

Anakin nodded. "Alright. Think you can move, Master Piell?"

Piell scoffed. "It takes more than a couple of droids to stop me."

Actually, all it took to stop Master Piell--and the others--turned out to be a magnetized ceiling. They encountered it right after they left Piell's cell, when a group of battle droids ambushed them. Anakin was yanked up to the ceiling when it magnetized, as were all of their weapons. The commando droids that leapt at them from both sides kept hold of their blasters, though, and it was only because Obi-Wan, Piell, and Ahsoka Force-shoved them back that their first rounds missed. The droids had locked their feet to the floor, though, so they didn't go flying.

On either side of Obi-Wan, Cody and Ezra surged forward, each one trading blows with the droids. Cody was mostly ineffective, his jabs and punches doing little more than irritating the droid he was targeting. Ezra had a bit more luck, grabbing one of the droid's arms and bending it behind his back so that it disconnected. The limb went limp, and Ezra tried to grab the blaster rifle it dropped, only for it to go flying to the ceiling.

Above them, Anakin was still dangling from his mechanical right hand. He was moving, trying to reach his lightsaber, but as he did, the ceiling electrified itself. Anakin screamed as the power surged through him, slowly frying him. Obi-Wan tried to shut it out. He could worry about his former Padawan later. Right now, the droids had knocked Cody and Ezra back, bowling Obi-Wan over, and behind him, the others weren't faring much better.

Anakin's screaming abruptly stopped and Obi-Wan looked up, worried, only to catch his lightsaber as it fell from the ceiling. Anakin and the rest of their weapons followed immediately, and together, the four Jedi cut down the droids with ease. As soon as the last droid hit the floor, they were off again, racing through the hallways to where Ezra assured them the rest of the men were being held.

Obi-Wan had to be slightly impressed with Ezra's performance on the mission. Even if he'd snuck along--and there was no denying the fact that he had--he had proved to be invaluable. Without him, Charger would have fallen on the climb up, and could have alerted the Separatists to the fact that they were here that much sooner. Then he'd hacked into the security system, found updated schematics, and was tracking troop movements so that they could avoid them as much as possible. Obi-Wan honestly wasn't sure what they would have done without him--or Ahsoka, for that matter.

He wasn't the only one who'd noticed how helpful the two teenagers were being either. Every time one of them stepped up, he could feel Rex's pride, Fives's and Echo's approval, and Cody's grudging gratitude that they were here. Anakin was shooting them smiles, too, like he wanted them to know he was glad they'd tagged along. Piell, on the other hand, was shooting Ezra a curious look whenever the kid's back was turned. He obviously didn't know why someone so young had been allowed on such an important mission. Ahsoka made sense, she was at least a Padawan, but Ezra very obviously was not carrying a lightsaber or wearing a Padawan braid. Obi-Wan resolved to fill Piell in later, but as they rounded another corridor and Ezra flashed a hand signal to let them know they'd arrived, he decided that he had more important things to worry about.

Anakin took the lead as he crouched next to the door Ezra had indicated. Igniting his lightsaber, he waited a few seconds before stabbing the door with it. An electronic cry let them know he'd managed to skewer one of the guard droids before the door sprung open and Ahsoka launched herself around the doorframe, landing on the other guard and stabbing it with her mainhand 'saber.

Piell followed them in, giving his men a quick once-over to make sure they were alright before his eyes landed on a slender man sitting on the back bench. He looked relieved as he said, "Captain Tarkin! It is good to see you."

Behind him, Obi-Wan felt Ezra stiffen. When he looked back, the boy had his hand dangerously close to his blaster and had his narrowed eyes fixed on the officer. Obi-Wan raised an eyebrow. This was the man they were here to rescue; what did Ezra think he was doing?

He apparently noticed Obi-Wan watching him, because Ezra reluctantly dropped his hand from his holster and instead pulled out the copy of the schematics he'd downloaded from the Citadel's computers. He busied himself studying that while Obi-Wan turned his attention back to the conversation.

"Glad to see you are still in one piece, General." Tarkin's voice was strangely oily. If Obi-Wan didn't know he was an officer, he might assume he was a politician. Tarkin turned his sharp eyes on Obi-Wan, giving him an evaluating look. "And this must be General Kenobi, and General Skywalker. Your rescue attempt seems to have taken its time."

Next to Obi-Wan, Anakin furrowed his brow. "You're welcome."

"I never doubted that the Republic would send someone after us, General Skywalker. I was simply commenting on the time it took you to get here. Now, are we going to get out of here?"

Obi-Wan nodded. "Jarrus, what's our route out of here?"

"That depends," Ezra said with a shrug. "I've got three routes out of the Citadel, so Artoo can pick us up, but none of them are perfect. So do you want the fastest way, the way with the least droids, or the way that'll get us out undetected?"

Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka shared a look. "Which way has the greatest chance of us surviving?" Anakin asked dubiously, crossing his arms.

Ezra pursed his lips, studying the map for another couple of seconds before turning it off. "Honestly, the last two give us an equal chance. But if we all disappear using the last option, they'll expand their search parameters and we could be discovered. And while the second route would have fewer surprises, they'd know exactly where we were and where we'd be headed. And the fastest route is also the one with the most droids. We'd have to do a lot of fighting just to get out, and that would slow us down."

Ahsoka grimaced. "So, none of those are ideal. What do you suggest, Master?"

Anakin sighed, glancing at Obi-Wan, and instantly Obi-Wan knew what he was thinking. "We split up. Obi-Wan will take a team, cause a diversion, then slip out using the last route. I'll take the rest of the men and use the second route, draw the droids away from you."

Behind them, Tarkin protested, "Surely staying together would be better? A unified force would stand a better chance of fending off the Separatist forces."

"No," Piell said as he made to leave the cell, "Skyvalker is right. This vay, if one group is captured they vill still only have half of the information. You stay vith Skyvalker, I'll go vith Obi-Van."

Obi-Wan nodded. That was the best plan, strategically. Granted that meant that if one team was captured or killed then the Republic would only have one half of the information, but that was better than the alternative. As they all filed out of the cell, he reached over and tapped Ezra on the shoulder. "You have both routes memorized, yes?"

Ezra nodded, looking slightly worried as to where the conversation was going. "Yes, sir."

"Excellent. I need you to give me the map. You stay with Anakin, Ahsoka, and Tarkin, guide them out of here."

Something similar to outrage flickered in Ezra's eyes. "What? I was going to go with you!"

"And I say you're going with Anakin." When Ezra opened his mouth to protest, Obi-Wan cut him off again. "That's an order."

Ezra shut his mouth, clenching his jaw before biting out a surly, "yes, sir." He pulled the holoprojector out of his belt and handed it over before turning on his heel.

Obi-Wan sighed. Honestly, Ezra was an incredible asset, but he was still a teenager, and a moody one at that. Anakin had been the same way--and still was, to some extent. The only thing Obi-Wan was curious about was why Ezra had been so adamant that he go with Obi-Wan. As he watched the boy march through Anakin's group to get to the front, though, Obi-Wan noted how Ezra shied away from Tarkin. Apparently that was why. But why was there so much animosity there? As far as Obi-Wan could tell, the two had never met. So now the question was, why did Ezra dislike him so much?

He shoved it to the back of his mind as he pulled out the holomap. That could wait for later; he needed to focus on the here and now.


	12. A Fight You Were Born to Lose

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise this is going to be the shortest chapter in the series. Seriously, I hate how short this is, but there wasn't anything else I felt needed to be in this chapter, it's an important one, so I couldn't skip it or anything, but it also just felt wrong to tag it onto the end of the last one. If it makes you feel any better, the next two are, like, four thousand words each, minimum. Hopefully that makes up for it!  
Chapter title is from Heirloom by Sleeping At Last.

It took an explosion, scrambling through the ventilation system, getting captured, and then getting freed again by Artoo to actually meet up with Anakin again. Artoo and his battle droids led Obi-Wan's group out onto the landing platform, pretending that they were transferring the 'prisoners' to the shuttle to be shipped off-world. Unfortunately, the warden had caught on and sent the signal to terminate the group.

Obi-Wan pulled his lightsaber out of the grip of the reprogrammed battle droids, instantly deflecting the blasterbolts back at the droids. Beside him, Master Piell did the same as the men opened fire, having grabbed the blasters that the droids had been carrying for them. As the two Jedi shielded the men, they fell back steadily--or tried to. The gunners that surrounded the platform were raining bolts so thick it was almost impossible to see where they were coming from.

Unless you had a different angle. Anakin and his group charged onto the landing platform from the other side of the platform, guns blazing and all three lightsabers ignited. As they took out the gunners, Obi-Wan signaled his men to fall back, except that he really didn't have to. They were already scrambling for cover even as they kept up a steady barrage of blaster bolts to cover for Anakin's team as they ran over to duck behind the large crates that they were using to hide from the incoming fire.

"Took you long enough," Obi-Wan called to Anakin over the noise of blaster fire and men and droids shouting.

Anakin rolled his eyes. "We need to get to the shuttle."

"No!" A voice cut in from Anakin's other side. Ezra was nearly shouting to be heard over the sound of his blaster rifle. "We need to fall back! This is a trap, they knew we had to come here if we wanted to get off of the planet! If we try to get to the ship, they'll just blow it up!"

Obi-Wan turned, ducking under an STAP as it and a second one made a run, firing at them from above. "We don't have a choice!" He called. "It's our only way off this planet!"

Stepping out from behind cover, Obi-Wan began deflecting the bolts back at the commando droids that had come pouring out of the facility. Their energy shields blocked the blaster bolts, but with his ‘saber Obi-Wan at least stood a chance of getting close enough to them to actually cause some damage. Force-shoving several of them back, he leapt forward, dismembering two and dodging to the left a bit so that Cody’s shot didn’t hit him instead of the droid Cody had been aiming at. More swarmed him, driving him back to the cover of the crates and the clones’ fire, but he’d taken a few of them down.

As the STAPs made another pass, Anakin leapt up onto one of them, cutting the droid piloting it down and swinging around to fire at the other one, which dodged. As his former Padawan somehow managed to engage in a dogfight despite not having an actual ship, Obi-Wan turned his attention to the skirmish.

More droids were pouring out of the facility. The troopers were keeping up a good barrage of blaster fire, trying not to overheat their weapons while at the same time trying to get as much fire out there as possible. Obi-Wan stood in front of them as best he could--they were spread out too far for him to be able to protect them all. Ahsoka had both her 'saber and her shoto out, allowing her to block twice as much blaster fire, but the endless waves of droids were slowly starting to make the situation feel hopeless.

From behind him, Piell suddenly moved, launching off of Obi-Wan's back to grab hold of Anakin's STAP. He managed to deflect the other STAP's bolts back at it, hitting it and causing it to spiral through the air to slam into one of the guns. Anakin and Piell dropped a moment later, their ride crashing as well. As the two Jedi fell back to help cover the men, Obi-Wan realized that Ezra had probably been right. They should have fallen back earlier, when they had the chance.

Across the way, Echo had apparently realized the same thing. "I'm going!" He called, directing his words mostly at Fives and Ezra. "Cover me!"

Grabbing one of the energy shields from the ground, Echo charged toward the shuttle, ignoring Fives's and Ezra's cries for him to stop,  _ what are you doing, Echo, no!  _ The ARC trooper plowed ahead, getting to the ramp of the shuttle before the Force sang with warning. Obi-Wan stiffened. Beside him, Ezra's eyes widened, as if he somehow knew what was about to happen, and he reached out with one hand, as if he could actually pull Echo away from danger.

Except he did.The air around his hand rippled as something shifted in the Force, like a star going supernova right next to him. Ezra yanked his arm back, and Echo went flying back towards them a second before the shuttle exploded. As Fives ran forward, grabbing his brother and dragging him back behind cover, Obi-Wan turned his focus to Ezra, who had slumped, his knees hitting the ground hard enough that Obi-Wan's own ached in sympathy. He looked dazed, but was staring at his outstretched hand in horror, as if he couldn't believe what had just happened.

Not that Obi-Wan could, either. Somehow, Ezra, Force-null Ezra, who'd had no training whatsoever except to shield his thoughts, had used the Force to yank a fully-grown man back from an explosion. That simply wasn't possible.

Behind him somewhere, Piell was calling for them to retreat, and Obi-Wan forced it out of his mind. Here and now, he reminded himself. Questions later. Looping an arm under Ezra's shoulder, he pulled the young man up as the whole group went running. Echo was back on his feet, only a bit unsteady, with Fives hovering right behind him. Anakin shot them a worried look, but didn't slow as they left the smoking platform.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... that happened.   
As requested, Echo lives. He was always going to, but it's great to actually have it established as fact. I'll get around to Tarkin later, since so many of you asked about him. Seriously, I cannot tell you how hard I laughed when you were all clamoring for him to die. I guess nothing really unites people like the hatred of a slimeball. You guys are great.   
Next week, a POV I've been avoiding up to this point!


	13. Another Lie From the Front Lines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And now, the finale! The next chapter is kind of an epilogue/lead into the next part of the story. This isn't my favorite chapter (I don't actually know if I have one), just because the last bit feels a bit rushed, but I still really like it. Please let me know what you think!

He'd screwed up. He'd screwed up so bad. The thought kept running laps in Ezra's head as he leaned against Master Kenobi. He hated relying on the General just to walk, but between the stitch in his side from the constant, frantic exertion, the overwhelming dizziness from how badly he'd screwed up, and the disorientation from the nauseating rush of input from his sudden reconnection to the Force, he wouldn't have been able to walk in a straight line.

Ezra knew he should be used to the Force. He'd grown up with it as a steady companion, even when he didn't know what it was. But the moment he'd tried to stop Echo and the wall he'd built in his mind to keep the Force out had crumbled, he'd nearly collapsed with the sheer amount of  _ too much too loud too bright _ that had crammed his senses. General Skywalker alone was a massive headache. Looking at his signature in the Force was like standing in the heart of a sun: blinding, and he felt like he was being roasted alive. Master Kenobi and Ahsoka weren't as bad, but their presences were now screaming at him. And now that he'd opened himself up to it all, he couldn't close his eyes, plug his ears, or back away.

To make matters worse, his connection to the Force felt unstable. At one moment, the Force flowed through him like an ocean, nearly drowning him, but then the next it was barely a trickle. The constant back-and-forth made him feel sick. His senses, even his normal ones, felt like they had been dialed up to eleven, making the nausea worse. Add to that the fact that the Force itself felt strange, like there was something intrinsically different about it, and Ezra was pretty sure he would have collapsed and passed out if it weren't for the urgency of the situation and Master Kenobi's arm around him.

He was pretty sure he heard General Skywalker on the comm with someone, but he was too busy keeping his feet under him to really pay attention to what was being said. The cadence of his voice and the static from the comm, combined with the constant pounding of the men's feet on the rocky ground, pulsed through his ears, making him grit his teeth. He could taste the ash and smoke in the air, and the heat clung to him like a blanket, nearly smothering him. His armor chafed his skin, and suddenly Ezra understood why Aunt 'Soka had counseled against ever cutting yourself off from the Force completely. Getting it back was almost worse than cutting it out in the first place.

Ahead of him, General Skywalker called out, something about taking a quick break to strategize, and Ezra had to try to decide whether to sigh in relief or to wince as the suddenness of the call made his headache spike in intensity. As he limped through the cave system, he tried to support some of his own weight, but he still ended up sagging against the wall of the cave when Master Kenobi lowered him slowly to the ground.

As soon as Master Kenobi stepped away, Rex was in Ezra's face, helmet off as he quickly tried to assess Ezra's condition. Ahsoka was right behind, concern obvious in her face. Ezra weakly tried to wave the captain off, muttering, "buzz off, Rex, I'm fine."

He really wasn't, though. His mind felt raw, and his sense of the Force ached, like he'd strained a muscle after not using it for months. Which was probably an accurate comparison. At the edge of his awareness, he could still feel the gaping hole in his mind, the reason he'd cut himself off in the first place--only now it was worse. The splinters from the shattered bond had hurt before; now they felt inflamed, like they'd festered for too long. To top it off, the other presences that had been his anchors for the last four years were gone, leaving him feeling unmoored.

Rex didn't know all of that. He did, however, apparently know that Ezra was lying through his teeth. "Kid, you can't walk. You're not 'fine.' Where were you hit?"

"I wasn't!" Ezra protested. "Echo's the one who was caught in the explosion."

Rex glanced over at Echo, who had Fives fussing over him, and Ezra dared to hope that the distraction would pull attention away from him. He didn't know who all had seen his display, but he really didn't want anyone to try to interrogate him right now. Or hopefully ever.

Master Kenobi chose that moment to dash that hope. "What happened out there?"

Ezra stiffened slightly, avoiding his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Don't play coy. What happened on the landing platform?"

Ezra couldn't help it. He bristled, glaring up at Master Kenobi with all the heat he could muster. "What happened, was that we did exactly what the Separatists were expecting us to do! The shuttle got blown up, and we lost good men because you wouldn't retreat even after I told you it was a trap! But, no, why would you listen to me, I'm just a child who doesn't have your experience,  _ Master." _

Most of the others were looking at him now, their attention caught by his raised voice. That wasn't quite what he was going for, but his choices had been get angry and distract or actually admit the truth: he'd been lying since he'd met them.

Ahsoka looked perplexed. "The shuttle was our only chance to get off the planet. We had to make a break for it."

"Yeah, well, now the shuttle's been blown up," Ezra retorted, "and we don't have a way to get off planet. If we'd retreated when I'd suggested it, they probably would have left it intact and we would have had another opportunity to steal it later."

"You and I both know that isn't what I was talking about," Obi-Wan cut in before Ahsoka could come up with a reply. "You pulled Echo back from the explosion. Using the Force."

Ezra clenched his jaw and looked down as General Skywalker and Ahsoka both voiced their disbelief--loudly.

"What? No--he couldn't have! You must have imagined it!"

"But he's not Force-sensitive! I know, he told--" Ezra felt her signature brush his own right before she cut herself off. He dared to look up to find her gaping at him, disbelief and hurt in her eyes. He looked down again quickly, trying to ignore the guilt that bubbled up at her expression.

"I told you the truth," he muttered. "I don't use the Force, and I'm not part of the Jedi Order. You just assumed the rest."

"How?" Ahsoka managed. "How did we never notice?"

"He cut himself off from it," Obi-Wan answered for him. "He severed his connection to the Force so that we wouldn't notice."

"Why? Why would you do something like that?" Anakin demanded. "And why would you lie?"

Master Piell stepped forward, putting a hand on Anakin's leg, which was about as high up as he could reach. "Ve'll have time for this later. Right now, ve need to focus on getting off of this planet."

Anakin clenched his fist, then grit out, "fine."

Rex, who'd been staring at Ezra in shock, finally snapped out of it. Standing, he pulled his helmet on and walked over to where Artoo was projecting a map of the nearby landscape. "Right. I'm assuming the Jedi will be sending a rescue fleet?"

As the others talked, Ezra closed his eyes, trying to shut out the noise. That could have gone worse, but it could have gone better. In all honesty, he hated lying to everyone, Rex, Kix, and Ahsoka especially, but the idea of telling them everything made him want to hide.

_ 'Isn't that what you're doing?' _ Asked a voice that wasn't his.

_ 'Kriff off,'  _ Ezra thought back.  _ 'You're dead. The only version of you that exists right now is a stranger.' _

That was what the problem boiled down to, though. There might exist younger versions of the people he knew, but they would never be the same people Ezra had called family. If he failed--if Anakin Fell despite his and now Ahsoka's best efforts--then he would lose the new friends he'd made, on top of losing everyone else he'd ever known. Even if he succeeded, if the galaxy didn't fall, then he still would have lost everyone he cared about. Sure, he would have his new friends, but they hadn't lived through the same war he had nearly died in--multiple times. Even his home planet would be completely different. He really had lost everything.

And what scared him was that Anakin had done the same. He'd lost Aunt 'Soka when she left the Order, he'd lost Master Kenobi by pushing him away and by helping Palpatine with the Jedi Purge, and then he'd lost Padme in childbirth. And losing all of that has driven him over the edge and he'd fallen to the Dark Side.

Ezra had promised himself after the incident with the Sith holocron that he would never do the same.

A hand on his shoulder startled him out of his thoughts, and he looked over to see Fives watching him carefully. Everyone else had been giving him almost scared looks since the truth had come out; Fives just looked concerned.

"We're going to be moving soon," Fives said. "Can you walk?"

Ezra shoved his sense of the Force behind a durasteel wall and carefully eased himself to his feet, pleased but a bit surprised when his headache, which had mostly faded, didn't return. "Yeah, I'm good."

Fives eyed him carefully before turning back to Echo, who'd obviously been concussed from getting thrown back from the explosion. "Sure," he said, his tone disbelieving, before calling over his shoulder, "Hey, Charger? Keep an eye on the lieutenant, make sure he doesn't fall over or anything."

Charger stepped up to stand at Ezra's shoulder. "Yes, sir." Turning to Ezra, who was grimacing because Fives just couldn't leave well enough alone, he cocked his head. With his bucket on, it was hard to tell, but he was probably smirking. "Do you need to sit down, sir?"

Ezra groaned, shaking his head. "I'm fine. Fives is just a worrywart."

"All due respect, Lieutenant," Fives snarked back, "but you really need someone worrying over you. You have the General's knack for getting into trouble."

Ezra tensed at the way he phrased it, but Fives didn't know. In fact, he'd probably just meant it as an offhand compliment, so he forced himself to ignore the bile that rose in his throat every time someone tried to use a comparison with Anakin as a compliment and turned away, walking over to the edge of the group and crouching to keep a lookout in case the Separatists’ droids found them.

Charger knelt next to him, tugging his helmet off. "So."

Ezra glanced at him out of the corner of his eye before looking back at the rocky terrain. "So, what?"

"I don't know, I was trying to find a conversation topic that didn't seem weird. Guessing you don't want to talk about the whole..." Charger wiggled his fingers in front of him, and Ezra snorted.

"Yeah, not really." Ezra said. They sat in silence for a couple of minutes, the only sounds the hissing of the lava as it lapped against the rocks and the murmuring voices behind them as the Generals, Captains, and Commanders discussed strategy. Finally, Ezra huffed, shifting as his legs started protesting his kneeling position. "You don't have to babysit me, you know."

"All due respect, Lieutenant," Charger said, sounding almost amused, "but I was given an order."

"Fives isn't your superior officer, unless I missed something."

"Yeah, but I owe you." Charger met Ezra's gaze, and he was taken aback by the determination he found in his amber eyes. "I would have died scaling the cliffs if you hadn't been there, and being fried by an electromine really isn't how I want to go."

Ezra felt a small smile creeping onto his face. "How do you want to go?"

"I don't. I'm planning to live forever." Ezra gave a short laugh at Charger's response before turning back to keep a lookout. He almost jumped when Charger asked, "how do you plan on going down?"

Ezra was quiet for a minute, mulling over his response. Finally, he said, "guns blazing, protecting the innocent. Or my friends, I'm not really picky. As long as they survive."

Charger narrowed his eyes, watching Ezra carefully. When he didn't add anything to his answer, the clone also turned his attention to the cave system.

Ezra carefully tuned out the sounds of Piell, Skywalker, and Kenobi talking to Master Yoda and another Master whose name he didn't remember as he tried to focus on the eerie shadows the molten rock cast. He hadn't been on very many volcanic planets before, and he had to say, he really wasn't impressed. The heat, constant smell of sulfur, and ash getting in his clothes were easily worse than any desert planet he'd ever been to, and those had previously been his least favorite planet type.

He'd known what Lola Sayu was like beforehand, even if he and Ahsoka had both missed the formal briefing. When he'd first seen the holoimage of the shattered planet, he'd thought it was Concord Dawn, and had turned to share a grimace with Sabine before remembering that she wasn't here. He couldn't count how many times he'd done something like that.

Something in the shadows moved and Ezra narrowed his eyes, trying to determine if it was his imagination, the strange ambient lighting, or an actual droid. His question was answered when something screamed at him to move and he lurched to the side, knocking Charger over so that the blaster bolts sailed harmlessly over their heads.

"Droids!" He shouted as a squad of commando droids leapt out from behind the caves' support pillars. Instantly, five 'sabers ignited behind him and he pulled his gun, pegging one of the droids twice in the chest. It stumbled back, then kept going. Someone behind him had taken one down, the droid falling into the lava with a hiss as it melted. He grimaced as his target jumped, raising its vibroblade to skewer him. He rolled to the side as it came down, firing again into its head, taking it out this time.

Quickly he whipped his head up, checking to see where the other droids were only to find that the clones had taken care of them. It was difficult to remember sometimes, but just because they wore similar armor, didn't mean the clones were as incompetent as Stormtroopers.

As the Jedi all sheathed their lightsabers, Anakin looked around grimly. "They'll know we're here; there'll be more on the way."

"Ve should head to the extraction point," Piell said.

As the group turned together and began jogging through the cave system, Ezra fell in beside Rex. "What's our extraction plan?"

"If you'd been listening, Lieutenant, you'd know." Rex's reply was uncharacteristically cold, and Ezra shot him a look out of the corner of his eye.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't in the mood to get interrogated some more. So, c'mon, Rex, please fill me in. I need to know where we're going."

"There's an island in one of the lakes. We're to head there and wait for extraction. And it's Captain, Lieutenant." Rex said before pushing ahead.

Ezra scowled at his back. Why was he so upset? He understood--and even expected--Master Kenobi, General Skywalker, and Ahsoka to be mad at him, given that the Force was their area of expertise, but what they'd found out honestly hadn't affected Rex that much. So why the cold shoulder?

He didn't get his answer anytime soon, though. As the droids closed in, with the howls of the anoobas riding the wind beside them, Ezra wondered silently if he was even going to get out.

They'd all split up, trying to pin the anoobas between them, and it seemed to be working. He was pretty sure he'd seen Ahsoka and Master Piell together, but he was more worried about the anoobas that were menacing Tarkin, Charger, and himself to really pay attention to how the others were doing.

As the other two stood back to back with him, he shot at one of the anoobas prowling in front of him. It was snarling from the rocks, ducking whenever one of his shots got too close, but at this distance, with his heavy blaster pistol, he couldn't get a good shot on the constantly moving target. Slowly, he started stalking forward, firing constantly to try to pin the blasted animal down, ignoring the blaster shots ringing out around him.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up and his instincts screamed at him a second before something tackled him from behind. As he fell, he caught sight of Charger lying on top of him as another anooba jumped over them. If Ezra had still been standing, it would have landed on him. As it was, it skidded against the ashy gravel and snarled at them before Ezra's blaster cut it down.

For a moment he relaxed, but the moment was ruined as the shadowy figure of the anooba he had been trying to kill suddenly moved. Ezra brought his blaster up on instinct, ready to fire at it, but the animal jumped completely over him. Charger pushed himself off of him, both tracking the anooba's movement as they tried to bring their weapons around to stop the animal.

They weren't fast enough. The anooba tackled Tarkin to the ground, digging it claws furiously into his stomach. Tarkin screamed. Charger and Ezra were already firing, their shots hitting the animal in the side and the head respectively, but it was obviously too late. As the anooba slumped on top of Tarkin, the pool of blood was already spreading too much for Ezra to even hope to keep the man alive.

That didn't stop him from running over. With a swipe of his hand, he tried to use the Force to get the animal off of Tarkin, wincing as he accidentally hurled the beast several meters away to land with a nauseating sizzle in the lava. Trusting Charger to watch his back, he turned his attention to Tarkin.

The wound was bad. Tarkin's uniform was shredded, and the flesh beneath it was in tatters. His gray jacket was now almost completely red, and Tarkin himself looked pale, both from pain and blood loss. He was panting shallowly, making small noises of pain with every breath, and Ezra wondered if it wouldn't have been kinder for him to die instantly. As much as he hated the man--he couldn't look at him without remembering what he'd tried to do to Lothal, what he had done to _ (no, don’t think about him, it only makes it worse) _ \--no one should experience this much pain.

Ezra pressed down on the bloody mess that was Tarkin's stomach, trying to stem the blood loss for a little bit longer. "Tarkin, the coordinates. You and I both know you're not going to make it, give me the coordinates so that I can get them to the Republic."

Tarkin forced his eyes to focus on Ezra, somehow managing to curl his lip in disgust despite the amount of pain he had to be in. "Fine," he whispered hoarsely, coughing. Ezra winced at the sight of blood spilling from the man's mouth, but leaned in close to catch every word the man uttered.

They didn't bring the body back to the main group. There wasn't much point. Ezra and Charger just carried him over to the river of lava and gently eased him into it. The smell of burning flesh lingered in Ezra's nose as he and Charger wearily made their way back to the group, and Ezra tried to figure out how the kriff he was going to tell them that Tarkin was gone.

He didn't really have to worry that much. Ahsoka met them when they were almost to the group, Master Piell's body slung over her shoulder, and Ezra barely had the energy to muster a grimace. The adrenaline from the anooba's attacked had disappeared, leaving him drained and ready to collapse. Of course, if Charger made it back to the group carrying him over his shoulder, that'd probably give the wrong impression, so he straightened and forced himself to keep going.

The others reacted to Tarkin's and Master Piell's deaths much more calmly than Ezra thought they would. General Skywalker and Master Kenobi insisted that they take a moment to give Master Piell his funeral rites, and no one protested. Piell's men probably wanted to honor him in any way they could, and the rest were just thankful for a breather.

Ezra watched as General Skywalker and Master Kenobi lowered Piell's body, covered in a spare piece of canvas as a shroud, into the river of lava. He probably should have cared more, should have mourned more for the men they'd lost to get here, but he was exhausted. Between the hours of endless exertion, the multiple adrenaline rushes, and, of course, the abrupt reconnection to the Force, he didn't really have much left in the tank.

As the Generals walked away from the edge of the river, Ezra tried to catch Ahsoka's eye, but she was pointedly not looking at him, an angry scowl on her face as she watched Master Piel's body disappear down the cascade of molten rock. Her fists were clenched at her sides. Ezra sighed. He'd apologize later, when the Generals couldn't overhear.

That opportunity never really came. General Skywalker led them to the extraction site amidst a massive firefight. The droids had STAPs buzzing around them, and as Master Kenobi leapt onto one, decapitating the commando droid riding it, Ezra found himself missing his lightsaber. He'd left it behind, of course, he'd had to, but it was his. Using another would feel wrong.

He tried to stick close to Ahsoka, hoping to get the opportunity to at least try to explain himself--do or do not, there is no try--but she was very skillfully avoiding him, leaping onto STAPs to decapitate their pilots, then landing and taking out the crab droids. So instead he found himself shoulder to shoulder with Fives and Charger, who had apparently decided to become his personal protection detail, as they protected Echo, who, despite the tight grip he had on his blaster, was not up to fighting.

A STAP zipped overhead, its pilot very obviously not a droid. Fives snarled and fired at it, managing to hit it and sending the pilot--if Ezra had to guess, he'd say the warden or something like that--tumbling to the ground. As the others began closing ranks around the island, the warden snarled and pounced, landing on Ezra before he could move.

Its claws dug into his throat as the thing spit in his face, its gleaming yellow eyes full of hate. He tried to shove it off of him, but the Force seemed to have chosen that moment to abandon him. "If I can't have the information--" Ezra found himself hoisted into the air, looking down at the lake of lava "--no one can!"

Ezra struggled frantically, trying to get the warden to release him without just being dropped, clawing at the hand still squeezing his throat. His lungs burned and his vision was going dark from the lack of air. He knew he was about to pass out--and passing out on the battlefield was never acceptable.

Just when he thought the warden was about to hurl him into the lava or he was going to pass out, the warden's hold loosened as it made a strangled gasping sound. Ezra dropped to the ground, looking up to see a green lightsaber emerging from the warden's back. The warden toppled to the ground, revealing Ahsoka. Her face was surprisingly impassive, considering she'd just killed someone.

Ezra forced himself up to his knees, holding a hand to his throat, which ached. His breath rattled as he struggled to regain it. Still, he nodded his thanks to Ahsoka, not trusting his voice. She barely acknowledged him, instead backing up to the small knot of troopers that the other two Jedi were protecting. Ezra hauled himself up to his feet and followed her.

The crab droids looked almost like they were crawling out of the lake surrounding them, and commandos buzzed around them on STAPs like insects, making Ezra duck his head to avoid their blasterfire. He pulled out his blaster, but between the oxygen deprivation, exhaustion, and the strain on his mind from reconnecting with the Force, he didn't really trust his aim. He stumbled into the circle of troopers, flinching when a hand closed around his bicep and pulled him firmly up on his feet. Looking over, he realized he was now leaning on Charger, who shot him a concerned look before turning his attention back to the battle.

Distantly, amidst all the blasterfire, Ezra was aware of two brilliant presences in the Force approaching their extraction point, surrounded by smaller lights that meant clones. Their rescue was coming.

A sharp gust of hot air blasted across the island as a gunship and three fighters barreled over the lake, the fighters chasing off the droids while the LAAT swooped in to scoop them up. The door slid open to reveal a handful of troopers and a Kel Dor Ezra vaguely recognized from when he and Ahsoka had snuck into the carbonite freezing chamber. The boys from the 501st and 212th began falling back, climbing into the shuttle as the troopers in the LAAT gave them cover fire and the Jedi shielded them with their lightsabers.

Charger pushed Ezra up into the transport, and Ezra forced himself to grab one of the straps hanging from the ceiling, resting his head against his raised arm. The transport shuddered as the three Jedi jumped aboard, sheathing their lightsabers as the door slid shut.

Somehow, against all odds, they had made it out with the information. But as they left the shattered planet behind and barreled through the dogfight in the asteroid belt around the planet, Ezra could feel eyes on him, and he knew this was far from over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A few things: first, this was originally the end of this "book." Can you believe it? Then I wrote the next chapter and decided it worked better as a conclusion to this part than an opening to the next. Secondly, yes, I killed Tarkin. Honestly, that was therapy for the repressed childhood trauma of him blowing up a planet--not to mention revenge for his role in the Wrong Jedi arc. Thirdly, in my original draft of this story, Charger showed up exactly nowhere. I swear I turned around and he'd put himself right in the middle of my script and refused to leave until I was nicer to Ezra. So he's sticking around. Expect to see him more.  
Lastly, thank you all so much for reading! I know I always say it, but I keep expecting y'all to get tired of my little story so I just get so happy when you leave comments or kudos. You guys are great!


	14. Though Time Is Ruthless, It Showed Us Kindness in the End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last chapter! Sort of an epilogue/setup for the next part of the series, but there are a lot of interactions that I absolutely love. I don't think I've ever switched around POV in a chapter as much as I have in this one.  
I honestly have no idea when I'm going to post the next part of the series, as I'm only on chapter three, but hopefully with the holidays approaching I'll have more time to write. I'll try to get it up around January? But no promises. All I can promise is that I will get it up.  
Also, word of warning: there is a panic attack in this chapter, as well as brief mentions of suicide. It's not too bad, but I did want to put a warning there.  
Chapter title is from Mars by Sleeping At Last.

Honestly, Anakin didn't want to be here. He wanted to be in his bed on his ship, or in the Jedi Temple, or in Padme's apartment. As long as it was a bed and he didn't have to deal with the load of bantha poodoo this mission had decided to dish out, he would be happy.

Obi-wan looked like he felt the same. From where he was sitting next to his former Master, Anakin could see the stress lines and exhaustion in Obi-wan's face. Still, he managed to stare down the source of their issues with a pretty good amount of intimidation.

Said source of issues was squirming slightly in the seat they'd basically shoved him in. Ezra Jarrus, lieutenant of the 501st, one of the best fighters Anakin had encountered, and a serial liar, was glancing around the mostly empty conference room they were gathered in like he was trying to find an escape route. He'd been to the medbay (Cody had insisted, saying that Force or no Force, no one walked away from being half-strangled perfectly fine. Anakin had taken one look at the spectacular bruise that covered the kid's throat and agreed. After bacta, it looked slightly better, but it still left his voice hoarse) but that was the only delay they'd allowed before they'd dragged him to the conference room.  


Anakin sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "How long have you been cutting yourself off from the Force?" That seemed as good a place to start as any, and hopefully not one Ezra could dodge around and give another half-truth.

"About a year," Ezra muttered reluctantly.

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow. "And why would you do that? You've made it obvious you know how dangerous it can be, and you're not the type to do something with no real reason. So why?"

"And how," Anakin added. "How'd you know how to do that? You have to have some awareness of the Force in order to cut yourself off the way you did, so you had to have been taught a bit, at least how to do that."

Ezra groaned. "I cut myself off not too long after I saw my family for the last time, because it... it hurt. I told you about my aunt? We... well, if you spend enough time with another Force-sensitive, you form a bond, and if they die..."

Anakin frowned. This was the first he had heard of a Force-sensitive aunt. A glance at Obi-wan told him that he had known, and had apparently not shared. Still, he knew--intellectually, at least--what the kid was going through. If the kid had formed a bond with his aunt only to lose her--and the rest of his family at the same time--of course he'd cut himself off from the constant reminder of what he'd lost.

Obi-wan sighed, sinking into a chair. "I assume she was the one to teach you how to sever your connection to the Force."

Ezra nodded. "Yeah, that was one of the few things she taught me."

"Why didn't she teach you more?" Anakin asked, also sitting down.

"And more importantly," Obi-wan added, "why didn't the Jedi Order find you when you were a child? I could feel your strength in the Force when you saved Echo, it's considerable. You would have made an excellent Jedi."

Ezra shifted uncomfortably. "It was... dangerous to use the Force. Where we were in the Outer Rim, there were people who hunted Force-users like animals." He gestured to the pair of scars on his face. "That's how I got these, actually. After that... _ incident _... my aunt decided that I needed to be taught how to hide myself, to keep from being hunted. And I never wanted her to teach me more. It just... didn't seem right.

"I'm not sure why the Jedi didn't find me as a kid. I grew up in the Outer Rim, where there was no Republic. Maybe you just never searched that far? I don't know. All I know is by the time anyone really realized how strong in the Force I was, I wouldn't have been able to join the Order anyway."

Anakin sighed. That all sounded familiar, up till the part where he was just too old for anyone to take on. It was almost like looking in a mirror and seeing what he might have been if Master Qui-gon hadn't found him. And if he hadn't been enslaved as a child.

Obi-wan glanced at Anakin, probably thinking something similar, before turning back to Ezra. "And you didn't bother telling us because...?"

"Because--because I'm used to being able to feel my family and friends' presences. They were a constant, and now they're gone. It was just... easier to miss the Force instead of constantly being reminded that they're not here. If I told you, then you'd make me reconnect. Then I went and kriffed it up and reconnected anyway, and it feels like there's a karking hole that's been ripped through me_ because they're not here!" _ Ezra was leaning forward in his seat, anger and pain lighting a fire in his eyes and making the pressure in the room skyrocket as his emotions leaked into the Force.

Anakin winced, a headache forming behind his eyes as a chaotic energy seeped into the room, making the hair on the back of his neck stand up. This was part of why severing your connection to the Force was dangerous. If your control atrophied, then not only would you end up projecting your emotions into the Force, affecting the environment, but the pressure and subtle chaos of the environment would ramp up your emotions as the Force degraded your shields. Basically, it would create a feed-back loop that would only get worse the longer it was allowed to continue.

"Kid, you need to calm down," Anakin tried his best not to growl, but if the kid wanted him to keep his temper in check, than he had to stop making stupid decisions.

Ezra opened his mouth to retort, than shut both it and his eyes, taking a deep, slow breath. The pressure in the room dropped instantly, and the underlying feeling of chaos disappeared, leaving the room still and almost ominously silent for a minute or two before Ezra opened his eyes and muttered, "Don't call me kid."

"Pardon?" Obi-wan asked, blinking in confusion.

"Don't call me kid," Ezra said, his voice carefully controlled. "I have a name, and barring that, a rank that I will respond to immediately. I'm less than four years your junior, General Skywalker, you really don't have the footing to talk down at me like that."

"Actually, he does," Obi-wan managed to sound amused despite the seriousness of the situation. "He is your commanding officer."

Anakin pursed his lips, voicing the idea that had been hovering in his mind since the truth of Ezra's abilities came out. "Not for much longer."

"What?" Obi-wan and Ezra both demanded, looking at him in consternation.

Anakin raised his hands defensively. "Look, k-Ezra," he said, barely catching the epithet before it left his mouth, "you need training, someone to help you get control of your abilities. It's too dangerous to just let you wander around untrained, especially if your little display a minute ago is anything to go by. As much as I would love to keep you with the 501st and train you myself, I've got a Padawan already, and I made a promise to her that I would complete her training to the best of my ability, which means I can't be opting out of training her in favor of training you."

"Can't you just, I don't know, train both of us?" Ezra asked.

Obi-wan shook his head. "I don't think there's ever been a Master who's taken on two Padawans at once. The amount of effort that goes into training one Padawan is enormous, taking on two would be nearly impossible. It's simply not done."

Ezra got a strange look on his face, but his only reply was, "huh."

When he didn't continue, Anakin looked over at Obi-wan, who was stroking his chin. "Think you'll be up for it, Master?" He asked.

Obi-wan shrugged. "He can hardly be more trouble than you were. Though I guarantee the Council will not approve."

Shaking his head, Anakin said, “so we don’t tell them. It’s not like that’ll hurt anyone. Besides, all we’ll be doing is giving him enough training that he won’t lose control, which is actually the exact opposite of dangerous.”

“Very well.” Obi-Wan said, raising an eyebrow. “We’ll be doing what you normally do and ignore the rules.”

Anakin rolled his eyes. "Very funny." He stood, stretching slightly to ease the stiffness in his back. "I'll get started on a transfer request."

"Don't I get any say in this?" Ezra asked, scowling. "It's not like it's my future or anything."

Obi-wan glanced at him, almost amused. "I think we've established by now that you have no idea what looking after yourself is. I'm not sure I trust you to make this kind of decision."

"Besides," Anakin added, "we're your commanding officers. I think that allows us to make this kind of decision for you." Ezra's scowl deepened and Anakin had to suppress the urge to roll his eyes. The kid just wasn't getting it. "Look, Lieutenant, I get that you don't like this, but you need a teacher to help you at least get your abilities under control. Given Obi-wan's history with unusual Padawans--"

"I think you mean difficult Padawans," Obi-wan interrupted jokingly.

Anakin glared at him before turning back to Ezra. "He'll be the best fit." Ezra was now glaring at the floor, slumped back in his seat like the unruly teenager he was. "Ezra," Anakin said, then stopped and sighed. "We just… we want you to have the best teacher."

Ezra shifted his gaze so that he was now glaring firmly at Anakin, which would have been more intimidating if he didn't also look like he was pouting. "I don't want the best teacher," he grit out. "I just-- I want things to go back to how they were."

"Yes, well, cat's out of the bag now," Obi-wan said dryly. "We can't unlearn important information."

"I didn't--" Ezra cut himself off, then muttered, "I meant how they were when I had my family."

Anakin winced in sympathy. He didn't know too much about Ezra's family--just that he had at least one sibling, parents who'd been executed when he was fifteen, and they had obviously mentioned something about an aunt--but it sounded like they had been a very tight-knit group. Losing them must have sent Ezra spiraling, culminating in him cutting himself off from the Force.

In a way, Anakin understood his pain. He'd never really had time to mourn his mother, and the pain was still awful over two years later, and only worse after Mortis. While he hadn't lost as many people as Ezra had, he still had lost the person who had looked after him since he was a child. Ezra probably hadn't had a brush with Dark Side--he might not even be aware of what the Dark Side was-- but that didn't stop the similarities from being obvious.

"I'm sorry," Anakin said, and he meant it. "Let us know if there's anything we can do."

Ezra shook his head as he stood, walking over to the door without waiting to be dismissed. “You could let me stay with the 501st.” He retorted, but most of the fight had gone out of his voice. “But you’re not going to. Instead, you’re just going to throw me in with a bunch of strangers again.”

** _______ **

Rex wasn't surprised when General Skywalker's message came through. He'd figured that Lieutenant Jarrus would be transferred, although he wouldn't have been surprised if that had been accompanied by a demotion as well. Kix protested when he heard, but Ahsoka had just met Rex's eyes with a tired expression and nodded, like she had been expecting it, too.

Currently, Rex was in the hanger, waiting for General Skywalker to return with the lieutenant, who was just supposed to be grabbing the last of his personal items--the few he didn't have with him constantly--while the general finalized his transfer. Rex honestly wasn't sure he should be the welcome party--Ahsoka would have been a better choice. She at least wasn't barely keeping herself from punching something whenever she thought back on any of their previous conversations.

The shuttle appeared outside the hanger and carefully landed. The general wasn't piloting, which was good. Rex honestly didn't need something else messing with his blood pressure. When the ramp hissed open, Rex stood at attention, carefully not looking at the young man who stepped out right behind General Skywalker.

Skywalker walked over, his expression telling Rex that even though he had his bucket on, the Jedi could still tell that Rex was avoiding looking at the lieutenant. "Captain, I need you to escort Lieutenant Jarrus to his quarters, then back here. The shuttle pilot's going to take him back to the 212th, but they've been given an assignment, so they'll need to leave shortly. Don't hold him up."

"Understood, sir," Rex said, mentally interpreting that as orders for him not to take too long yelling at the lieutenant. Not that he'd been planning on doing anything except ignoring him. "I'll have him out of our hair in no time."

Behind Skywalker, Jarrus--that wasn't even his name, whose was he using?--shifted uncomfortably. Rex still didn't look at him, instead turning on his heel and marching out of the hanger, not waiting to see if Jarrus was following. He heard hurried footsteps behind him, so he must have, but Rex didn't look back. He wasn't sure he could be held accountable for what he would say if he did.

Before Jarrus could say anything, Rex said, "You're to collect your personal items then report back to the shuttle by fifteen hundred hours. They can't leave without you, but Commander Cody values punctuality, so if you want to make a good impression, you might want to put a bit of effort into being on time."

"Rex, wait," Jarrus called, sounding tired.

Rex did not wait. He strode through the halls, still not looking back. "That's Captain to you, Lieutenant, so in case you haven't realized it yet, you can't order me to do anything."

Jarrus darted around him, turning so that he was facing Rex and walking backwards. "Then I'm not talking to Captain Rex, I'm talking to the Rex I know."

Rex stopped, scowling down at him. "I seem to remember you saying you didn't know me. You can't have it both ways." He pushed past the lieutenant, stepping with enough purpose that most of the men in the hall wisely moved out of the way.

Behind him, Jarrus threw up his hands, obviously frustrated. "What did I do? Look, I get General Skywalker, Master Kenobi, and Ahsoka being mad, this actually concerns them, but you're not a Jedi. Why--"

Rex whirled around, cutting him off. "How about because you lied? You lied to our faces, and even Ahsoka bought it. Now, you're right, I'm not a Jedi, I won't pretend to understand how the Force works, but Ahsoka has said she can usually tell when someone's lying, and she couldn't. She couldn't tell that you were lying through your teeth."

"Look, I'm sorry about not telling you the truth, but that doesn't--"

"Don't you get it, Lieutenant?" Rex was trying so hard not to snarl, but he ended up spitting the title like it left a bad taste in his mouth. "if you lied about that, who's to say you haven't lied about literally everything else since the moment you got onboard. How do I know that you actually ever knew any version of me or that you’re actually on our side?"

Ezra just stared at him, and Rex could see the exact moment he realized how badly he'd screwed this up. He hung his head, probably trying to look apologetic, but Rex scoffed.

"You want us to trust you, to believe that you're changing things, but for all we know you could be trying to keep things the same, or make them worse. That's the thing about trust: it goes both ways. If you don't trust us, or tell us what we need to know, then we--then _ I _can't trust you. I just can't. Regardless of whether or not you're telling the truth, there's just too much at stake for me to blindly take your word. So all due respect, Lieutenant, but if you honestly think I can just forgive and forget something like this, then you can shut the kriff up about knowing me. You obviously don't."

With that, he turned on his heel and stormed through the halls of the Resolute.

** _______ **

Ahsoka was waiting for Ezra when he left his quarters. She had crossed her arms, leaning back against the wall next to the door while he seemed to take his time packing a small satchel with the datapad and painted fragment of plastoid that Fives had given him after the painting incident. Honestly, he didn't have much stuff, so Ahsoka wasn't sure why it had taken him thirty minutes to leave his room.

Ezra sighed when he saw her, his shoulders dropping. "Look, I get it, you're mad, but I think I've had enough people yell at me today, so if you don't mind..." He tried to brush past her, but she pushed off of the wall and fell into step beside him.

"I'm not mad, just... confused." He side-eyed her, obviously doubting that, but it honestly was true. She had been in shock when she'd found out, and after they had gotten off the planet and she'd gotten to retreat to her room on the _ Resolute _, she'd thought everything over, and she'd wanted to get mad. She had wanted to be furious, but honestly she had more questions than she did reasons to be upset. "You did something that was dangerous not just to yourself but to everyone around you, and you're not... are you even sorry? Why would you do that?"

Ezra scowled slightly. "Does it matter? It's done, and I'm about to be out of your--" he gestured vaguely as he floundered for the right word "--lekku or whatever, but I'm gonna be late if you don't let me go."

Ahsoka grabbed his arm, forcing him to stop and face her. "No, you don't get to avoid this conversation. Answer me."

Ezra tugged his arm out of her grasp. "They're waiting on me--"

"So let them wait," Ahsoka said flatly, crossing her arms. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Ezra glanced down the hallway to make sure there was no one around before tugging her into a nook and dropping his voice. "Look, I wasn't lying to you when I said the Empire was tracking down Force-sensitives. Part of the reason I never used the name I was given at birth, even after I found out what it was, was because it would draw even more attention. They never would have stopped hunting me, especially Vader. So it was just too dangerous to..." He gestured vaguely again, as if saying 'using the Force' was a taboo. And maybe it had been when and where he grew up.

But they weren't there anymore.

"Yeah, well, I don't know if you've noticed, but there's no Empire here. So why not just tell us--or even just me? I could have helped you--hell, we all could have helped you before this became an issue in the middle of a mission." The last part came out a bit more accusatory than she meant it to, but it was true. It had become an issue in the middle of a mission, and if it hadn't, there was a very good chance that Piell and Tarkin might still be alive.

Ezra scowled, tightening his grip on his satchel. "Maybe I don't want your help. I was doing fine on my own."

Ahsoka snorted. "Yeah, you were totally doing fine. You could have hurt someone if you'd lost control--you still could. I'm almost glad the shuttle exploded. It made you stop hiding."

Ezra looked away. "That was an accident. I didn't mean to--to..."

Ahsoka raised an eyebrow. When he didn't finish, she leaned forward slightly. "Didn't mean to what, to save Echo? Or to lie to my face?"

Ezra clenched his jaw, looking up at the ceiling as if praying for an escape. "I don't know, both? Either? I'm glad I saved him, don't get me wrong--"

"I'm glad you saved him, too," Ahsoka cut in, "but that's not the issue. The issue is that you lied."

"I never lied," Ezra insisted, meeting her eyes again. "I told you the truth and you interpreted it the way you wanted to."

"But you knew how we would interpret it, and you didn't correct us! Deliberate misdirection is still lying."

"I didn't mean to!" Ezra insisted, threading his hands through his short hair and tugging, like that was the only way to get his frustration out. With a huff, he dropped his hands, explaining heatedly, "You try waking up, finding out that you're twenty years in the past, trying to figure out how that happened, and trying not to give away too much information so that none of it gets back to the Sith, all the while being interrogated by the younger versions of some of the people you look up to most! I was scared, and scrambling for answers for all of us, and guess what? I still don't have any for me. And then it just... hurt too much to talk about."

Ahsoka stared at him in disbelief. "You... you seriously lied about being Force-sensitive because you didn't want to talk about it?"

"What happened to, I don't care about your past?" Ezra retorted sullenly.

If Ahsoka could have gone back in time, she would have gone back and slapped her younger self for saying that. "Well, when your past affects our present like this, I think I'm entitled to know about it!"

Ezra rolled his eyes. "Except it was never supposed to affect the present, so of course I wasn't going to tell you!"

"That doesn't make any sense, and it sure as kriff isn't an excuse!" Ahsoka exclaimed, waving her hands around in frustration. "You just lied because you didn't want to face your past! Well, guess what, Ezra, this might all be history to you, but to me? This is my future, my friends, my way of life that's in danger, and only you know what's going to happen!"

Ezra scowled, hissing, "Exactly! _ Going to happen _. As in, hasn't happened yet. And won't, if either of us or Rex or Kix has anything to say about it. More than likely than not at this point, it's never going to relevant!"

Ahsoka scowled, crossing her arms. "Do you actually know that, or is that just what you tell yourself so you don't have to face the more uncomfortable facts of your past?"

Something in Ezra's eyes shattered, but not in a way that made him seem defeated. No, it was more like a dam broke and let the flood come raging out, destroying everything in its wake. "You want an uncomfortable fact?" He practically snarled. "Fine, how's this: you leave the Jedi Order. Voluntarily, months before it falls, you just decide enough is enough, turn your back on your Master, _ your friend, _and walk away." He punctated every additional statement by jabbing a finger at her, pressing her back against a wall. "You abandon him, and the rest of the Order, and they fall alone. Or, you know, Fall."

Ahsoka's mind was completely blank, every cell in her body screaming in denial. It couldn't be true. Being a Jedi was her life. The Force, the code, they had been part of her life for as long as she could remember, why would she--how could she...

It took a couple of tries to get the words out of her mouth. "You're lying."

"Am I? Can't you tell?" Ezra's bitter voice made her shake her head, even though the answer was yes. Yes, she could tell that he believed he was telling the truth. But he kept going, every word another blaster bolt to her heart. "You even said it yourself to Vader, remember? 'I am no Jedi?' What exactly did you think that meant?"

At the name Vader, Ahsoka felt ice form in her gut. Anakin. She'd abandoned Anakin, the exact thing Ezra said they had to do the opposite of to keep him from Falling. And she'd turned her back on him. Ezra had been trying to make sure that didn't happen this time, but it had been her fault the first time. If she hadn't walked away, then Anakin would never have Fallen, Vader would never have been born.

She shook her head, trying to force her thoughts into some semblance of order. "No... I wouldn't..."

"But you did." Ezra said coolly, and she almost wished he'd get angry again so she could snap back at him. Anything to distract from the overwhelming guilt. He wasn't so kind, though. "Now if you don't mind, Commander, I have a shuttle to catch." With that, he brushed past her, leaving her in shock.

**_______**

Kix was waiting at the shuttle with Charger shifting impatiently beside him, waiting for the lieutenant to show up. Honestly, while the biggest surprise following the mission to the Citadel had been Ezra's Force-sensitivity, the second had very easily been Charger walking into the medbay after Ezra's transfer had been announced and demanding that Kix get him transferred to the 212th as well. Kix had, of course, demanded to know why, and the look in Charger's eyes had convinced him even before he opened his mouth.

_ "I think the lieutenant's passively suicidal. As in, if someone throws a detonator, he won't toss it back or kick it away; he'll fall on it. He as good as told me so. If he goes to the 212th with no one there to watch his back, he's going to end up very dead, very quickly. So, please, _ vod _ , if you value his life at all, get me transferred now." _

Kix had gotten to work quickly, and Charger's transfer request had been submitted and approved before Ezra had to leave. Transfers for the clones were rare, nearly unheard of, but as soon as the general had been filled in, he'd pushed it through. Now Charger was waiting next to Kix for the lieutenant to arrive.

At almost exactly fifteen hundred hours ship's time, Ezra walked through the doors of the hanger. Kix frowned. No wonder they were transferring him. His presence, that singing that Kix had ignored for as long as he could remember, was so loud it almost drowned out everyone else on board. Except the general and the commander, of course. Before, Ezra had always had a heavy silence around him, like a vacuum that silenced all sound.

That wasn’t what really drew his attention, though. Ezra's shoulders were slumped, and he was walking slowly, looking worn out and... guilty? His song was melancholy, but there was an underlying… something, something that if Kix didn’t know better, he’d call shame. When he saw the two waiting for him, he closed his eyes and forced himself to straighten, but the deadness in his gaze was still there as he reluctantly came over to where Kix was leaning against the shuttle.

"You here to say goodbye, or do you want to yell at me, too?" Ezra asked tiredly, ignoring Charger for the time being.

Kix's frown deepened. Ezra hadn't been the most engaging or lively person he'd ever met, but now he seemed completely lifeless. "Well, I was going to yell at you, but I'm guessing someone already beat me to it." Ezra huffed a humourless laugh, and Kix pursed his lips. "Rex or Ahsoka?"

"Both," Ezra responded, then amended, "well, Rex yelled at me, I... yelled at Ahsoka. I said something I shouldn't have, and, um... could you check in on her? What I said... hurt her. I'll apologize next time I see her, but, well, I think right now it'd be a better idea for me to leave. She's probably still mad."

Kix sighed. He couldn't pretend to understand what had happened between the two. He'd resigned himself to having a more distant relationship with Ezra than either Rex or Ahsoka had, but he was slightly touched that despite the fact that he was the one Ezra knew the least, he still trusted him to look after Ahsoka.

"Right," was all Kix said, though, not sure how to articulate his thoughts in a way that Ezra would understand.

Ezra just gave him what was probably supposed to be a grateful smile before turning to Charger. “Come to say goodbye?”

Charger barked a quick laugh. “You wish. I’m tagging along.”

Ezra did a double-take, surprise shooting through his song. “What--really? He can do that?” 

He directed the last question to Kix, who couldn’t help the smile that crept across his face at Ezra’s shocked tone. “He can now. He’s being transferred, same as you.”

“Totally by coincidence,” Charger assured him, but the quick wink he sent Ezra let him know he was kidding.

Ezra huffed, relaxing as a small smile crept onto his face. “You didn’t have to do that. I’m sure you’ve got friends here…”

“And now you’ll have one over there, too,” Charger said with a reassuring look. “I know we’ve had a grand total of one conversation, but the people you’d prefer kind of can’t leave. The Captain and Commander obviously have duties, and the ARC troopers can’t just up and leave, so you’ll have to make do with me.”

Ezra sighed heavily, closing his eyes for a brief moment. “I don’t suppose I can convince you that you don’t need to do this?”

“Nope,” Charger said cheerfully, popping the _ p. _ “I know I’m no substitute for your friends or… your family, but….”

Ezra nodded slowly, looking down. “It’s okay. It’s not like you can bring them back.” Shifting his grip on his satchel, he shuffled over to the open door of the shuttle that was supposed to bring them over to the _ Negotiator. _ With a quick glance at Kix, he offered a quick smile before turning back to the transport and taking a deep breath. Before he boarded, though, Kix caught the last words he muttered under his breath.

“Nothing can bring them back.”

_ -Three Months Earlier- _

Wandering the streets was never a good way to start the day. Then again, finding out that a place she knew had been abandoned years ago was fully operational wasn't exactly a good wake-up call, either. Now, as she wandered around the bustling city on the back-water planet she'd claimed as home almost a year ago, she only had the clothes on her back, the pistols on her thighs, the last gift her brother had left for her, and the feeling that something was very, very wrong.

The only thing weirder than her abrupt awakening was the fact that she wasn't getting stopped on the street. Sure, she earned some funny looks from people because of her obviously off-world appearance, but no one stopped her because they recognized her. She didn't recognize anyone, either, which was worrying because even on the largest city on the planet, after wandering around for half the morning in places she knew her friends usually lingered, she didn't recognize any faces, even of people she would usually pass on the streets. It was like everyone had been replaced overnight by strangers.

Grumbling under her breath, she finally found a cafe with a holoterminal that actually seemed to have a connection to the 'net. She was about to start her search looking for her friends when she noticed something startling about the date given on the machine.

"Oh, no kriffing way." She muttered, staring for a second before actually opening the 'net, which unfortunately only confirmed what the terminal had told her. Swearing viciously under her breath, she quickly pulled up the news, trying to figure out what was going on, but the headlines that popped up didn't tell her anything. With a growl, she turned off the terminal and stormed out of the cafe, dodging the few people who were walking in for their mid-morning caffeine fix. As she ducked into a nearby alley, she squeezed her eyes shut and slid to the ground, muttering another curse.

If the terminal and the 'net were telling the truth--and there was no reason why they wouldn't be--she was stuck probably only a few months after she'd been born. How in the world that had happened, she had no clue, but it meant she was alone. No one else had been on the planet, and no one else had contacted her the moment they'd woken up. The only logical conclusion was that she was the only one. Still, out of desperation, she pulled out her commlink and tried every frequency she could think of, hoping against hope that someone would answer, but after several minutes of nothing, she had to admit defeat.

What was she supposed to do now? She had no plan, no backup, no ship--actually, that was probably a good place to start. Find a ship, get off the planet. There was a war on, a war that she knew the outcome of. If she changed it, then maybe her family's lives wouldn't have been so awful. Maybe they wouldn't have lost so much in order to win. But how was she supposed to change the outcome of a galaxy-wide war?

One thing at a time, she reminded herself. Ship, off-planet, then plan. Simple enough. Besides, it doesn't take an army to win a war, just one person with the right knowledge. Standing, she looked both ways before ducking out of the alley, trying to appear casual enough not to draw attention. If she was going to steal a ship--and that was, unfortunately, her only option--then she wanted as few people as possible to remember her. Less chance she'd get recognized that way.

She was nearly at the spaceport when she was recognized anyway, but it was the way she was recognized that made her hands immediately drop to her blasters.

"Sabine?" A familiar male voice asked right behind her, and she whirled around, wide eyes instantly meeting impossibly teal ones. Before she could draw her blasters, though, he grabbed her by the forearms and pulled her into a nearby alley, away from prying eyes. As he glanced around to make sure there was no one who could overhear them, she stared at him, dumbstruck. He looked exactly how she'd seen him last, seconds before he’d died, but before she’d known anything was wrong, except that his eyes were their natural colour again.

As she stood there, taking him in, he exhaled, running a hand over his face. "Do you know what happened? I was dead but then the Force was pulling at me and suddenly I was here, but the Force feels strange and Hera's not answering my comms." He looked at her, lost, but all she could do was stammer his name.

"Ka-Kanan?" At his nod, Sabine shook her head. "No, you died, I saw you die. How are you here?"

"I was hoping you could tell me," he answered. "And I'm not sure how I'm here, or alive. Am I even alive? I remember dying. I held on for a while to look after you--all of you--but then I let go. I was dead. I should be dead, I don't know how I'm not, I could feel the explosion--"

Karabast. Kanan was starting to hyperventilate, and his eyes were wide with fear. As he stumbled slightly, Sabine surged forward, wrapping an arm around him as she supported him. His face was white when she eased him to the ground, letting him sit with his back against the wall. He was still gasping as she grabbed his hand, moving so that she was kneeling in front of him.

"Breathe, Kanan, you have to breathe. C'mon, in and out, deep breaths. In--with me, Kanan, breathe with me-- and out slowly. That's it, c'mon. Just keep breathing."

Panic attack. She knew he had them on occasion, but the last time he had one must have been after Malachor. It had been Hera who'd helped him--it had always been Hera. And it had been Kanan who had helped her through more panic attacks than she could count. To have to try to keep her cool now to help him stave this one off felt wrong, but as Kanan squeezed her hand too tightly and shut his eyes as he struggled to slow his breathing, whispering that he had died, she pushed aside the thought of how wrong it was to see him like this and focused instead on keeping her own breathing measured and calm as she counted them out for him.

It felt like an eternity later when he finally opened his eyes, his breathing shaky but relatively calm. "Sorry," he whispered hoarsely, but Sabine shook her head.

"You don't have to apologize. You've been through a lot." She paused for a moment before adding, "It's really good to see you, though. We all missed you so much."

Kanan exhaled softly. "Good to see you, too, Sabine."

A few minutes passed as he tried to get the minute shaking in his hands to die down. She took his silence as permission to distract him from his own thoughts, so she quietly told him about waking up in Ezra's old comm tower, having to make up a sob story for the workers there so they wouldn't call the authorities, and generally being very confused until she'd found the cafe.

After letting her ramble for a few more minutes, he asked, "Where're Hera and the others?"

Sabine pressed her lips together, glad that he was up to focusing again, but dreading having to answer that question. "With any luck, on their way here. With our usual luck, we... might never see them again."

"What?" Kanan demanded as he sat up straight.

Sabine spread her hands in a 'calm down' gesture. "You haven't done any poking around, have you?"

Kanan shook his head, still tense. "No, why?"

"Kanan..." she sighed. There was no easy way of telling him this. "I think we've time traveled. I checked the holonet, we're two years into the Clone Wars. And I know that doesn't make any sense, but it's the only explanation because I don't recognize any faces here on Lothal, and I should have bumped into Ryder or Mart or someone I recognize. I've tried raising Rebel frequencies, and nothing. There is no Rebellion because there's no Empire yet."

Kanan stared at her for a moment before nodding slowly. "That... makes sense. The Force feels strange because there are still thousands of Jedi, it doesn't feel as empty. But how...?"

Sabine shrugged. "I don't know. I was going to scope out the spaceport, pick a good ship, and, if Hera and the others don't show up in the next couple of days, take off. If we know how the war ends--"

"We can change the outcome," Kanan said with a nod before pulling himself carefully to his feet. "Sounds like a plan. How far out do you think Hera should be?"

Sabine shrugged. "They were coming in from Massassi Base, and they left yesterday. Or, well, yesterday from my perspective. Apparently there was a big battle over Yavin and now they were having to evacuate."

Kanan managed a wry smile. "I'm guessing Hera and the others fought in it?"

"No. They fought in the one a week or so prior, though. Hera just--" Sabine cut herself off, her eyes widening. Oh, _ fierfek _. Kanan didn't know about Jacen. "Um, Kanan? There's something you should probably know." He raised an eyebrow, worry clear in his eyes. At the unspoken prompt, she continued. "So, when you died, Hera was, um..."

"Pregnant?" Kanan asked, amused that she couldn't say the word.

Sabine froze for a moment before rolling her eyes. "Of course you knew. Anyway, the stress of the first battle made her go into labor. She was recovering from giving birth when the second battle happened. Zeb commed me after the battle was over, and... Kanan, it was a boy." Tears of joy sprung into Kanan's eyes at the words. "Healthy, and actually a bit late. She named him Jacen Caleb Syndulla, after his uncle and his father."

Kanan was crying now, a grin on his face as he pulled Sabine in for a hug. "A boy..." she heard him murmur into her hair. "I have another son..."

Her heart clenched painfully in her chest as the words registered, and she pulled away, ducking her head before Kanan could see the pain on her face. "C'mon, we should... head for the spaceport. If they arrive to find no Imperial ships, that's where they'll head regardless of time-travel." With that, she left the alley, Kanan right on her heels.

** _______ **

They found a rooftop near the spaceport to camp out on, hidden from view from street level but with a clear line of sight to any incoming ships. When Sabine suggested they stay here, Kanan sank to the floor, worn out from the panic attack earlier and unabashedly staring at everything, including Sabine, who was sitting across from him as she set about cataloguing their resources.

It wasn't much. They had a few credit chips, the clothes on their backs (which unfortunately did not include Sabine's armor--she'd gotten in the habit of taking it off before bed seven months into her stay on Lothal), her two blasters and Kanan's, and two comlinks that were wired into systems that weren't in use yet. They had no food, and the credits would last them a couple days, tops. They'd have to try to take a cargo ship--or better yet, a smuggler's ship--if they wanted to have enough cargo and food to last them till they could get a steady source of income.

At her huff, Kanan raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Well, as far as supplies go, this isn't the worst off we've ever been, but we've definitely had better." Sabine tried not to let the irritation creep into her voice, but seriously? Whatever had yanked them into the past couldn't have waited until she was at least wearing her _ beskar'gam? _ She felt naked without it, and now she was probably never going to see it again. The thought hurt, but she pushed it down. She needed to focus.

Kanan was watching her, a soft smile tugging at his mouth. "We'll figure it out. When Hera and the others get here, our food problem will be solved."

_ When _ . Not _ if _, when. Kanan was trying to help her keep her head, and for the most part, his confidence did help, but she still pursed her lips as she pushed her hair out of her face. "We don't know how long that'll be, though. Credits might not stretch that far."

"Sabine," Kanan cajoled gently. "We'll figure it out." As she cast him a doubtful look, he grinned, and for a moment, it was like being several years in the past--well, her past-- with Kanan teasing the young teen, full of energy and wit that hid the trauma the Jedi had endured.

"What?" She asked as he continued to grin at her.

"Nothing," he said, "I just never thought I'd get to see you again. I mean, actually see you. I like your hair, by the way. You've changed it? Since, I mean." He didn't have to say since what.

She nodded, glancing up at the strand of dark orange hair that hung in her face. It was still brown at the roots, but the tips were a soft sunset color. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Ezra and Hera both told me it was purple."

Sabine smiled softly as she turned to look back at the meager pile of supplies they had. "Yeah," she murmured, "it was." She let the silence hang for a minute before shifting into a more comfortable sitting position. "Okay, well, chances are we're going to have to steal a ship if Hera and the others don't come, so we should scout out the spaceport, stake out the best option. It's probably a good thing we've still got our weapons," she added, almost as an afterthought.

Kanan winced slightly. "I've actually only got my blaster." Sabine turned to stare at him in disbelief, and he rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "My lightsaber was still on the dome when Hera and I escaped."

Sabine stared at him for a minute longer before shaking her head. Reaching into her boot, she pulled out the last item they had at their disposal and tossed the metal cylinder to Kanan as she stood. "Here, you're better with it than I am. I'm going to go scout out the market, find out how far our credits will stretch. You should head to the spaceport, get looking for a ship just in case."

She palmed the credits and turned to jump off the roof, but Kanan's voice stopped her.

"Sabine." He didn't call after her. He just whispered hoarsely, like there was a lump in his throat, and when she glanced back over her shoulder at him, there was fear in his eyes. "This is Ezra's lightsaber."

For a brief second, she wondered how he recognized it. After all, he'd never seen it before. Then, a conversation she'd almost forgotten sprang to mind, something she'd overheard Kanan explain to Ezra: _ "All kyber crystals sing in the Force, and each crystal has a different tune. If you listen, you can learn to recognize the crystal's song, just like you would recognize a person's presence." _

He didn't need to have seen it. He'd heard Ezra's crystal enough to know whose weapon he was holding.

Kanan took her silence to mean that she didn't understand what he was implying. "You said the others were off in a battle. Ezra wouldn't go into battle without his 'saber, and if you didn't know where mine was then he doesn't have it either. Why do you have his 'saber?"

Sabine sighed and sat back down. "He... had to leave it behind. He's not--he wasn't with the others. At the battle, I mean."

"He wasn't--" Kanan cut himself off, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before meeting Sabine's, pain and fear in his gaze. "Just tell me he's alive. Sabine, he has to be alive."

"He--he was alive last time we saw him, but that was months ago. A couple weeks after you died."

"Months?" Kanan demanded, his voice only barely there. "What happened?"

Sabine sighed. As much as they needed to get supplies and start scoping out the spaceport... This was more important. Family always came first.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da!  
I swear I did not write in Kanan and Sabine just for shock value, there is actually a plan here.  
Also, you might have noticed a couple of my headcanons showing up in this chapter, most specifically that clones can be Force-sensitive. Thus, Kix feeling Ezra's presence/emotions.  
Thank you all so much for reading my little story, I was very honestly not expecting anyone else to be interested in it. You guys are the best!

**Author's Note:**

> I got inspiration for this story from two fics. I don't know how to link them, but they are: Back From the Future: Episode VI The Clone Wars by Ariel_Sojourner and the Never Alone series by Neolcolai. I didn't steal any ideas, just got inspired by them, but they're good fics by good writers. You don't need to read either to understand what's happening in my story, but I would recommend finding them and giving them a read. They're really good.  
Story title and series title from Mars by Sleeping At Last, and the chapter title is from Son, also by Sleeping At Last.


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